Alone In The Wilderness
by Sad-Blue-Eyed-Angel 2010
Summary: Alan is a spoiled teenager with a chip on his shoulder. After crossing a line, his father has had enough & sends him off to a West Coast military school. When the charter plane suffers an unforeseen complication, Alan is forced to survive in the wilderness with the injured pilot. Will they be able to survive, or will they succumb to their surroundings before they're rescued?
1. Crossed The Line

**_AN: So here is one of the newest stories that I've been working on since June. I finally got a bit of time today to read through it and correct grammar mistakes and punctuation. Though please keep in mind, I do not utilize the extra aid that a beta reader provides. All mistakes are mine and I accept those mistakes. As for this story, I intend on making weekly updates on this story every Monday evening and if I'm late...hold me accountable. I'm working on an update for Rising From The Ashes currently and I'll be posting an update for A Walk To Remember sometime, maybe in the next week._**

 ** _I hope you enjoy this story and need I remind all my readers that if you don't have anything nice to say or have any constructive criticism to provide, then please don't review. I do greatly enjoy reviews however._**

 ** _On to the story!_**

 ** _Thanks!_**

 ** _Sad-Blue-Eyed-Angel 2010_**

* * *

Alan quietly closed his bedroom door, bending carefully at the waist to retrieve his shoes that he'd set beside his socked feet. He snuck past his brother's rooms, stopping by the front door to pick up the single key fob laying in the bowl. Once the key was in hand, Alan flicked the lock, grimacing at the ' _snick'_ sound emitted like a gunshot in the dead silent living room. He bit his lip as he held his breath, waiting for the inevitable door to open down the hall and one of his brothers or father poking their heads from their rooms to investigate the noise. But after a minute, nothing of the sort happened.

In the clear, Alan slipped out the living room door and hustled quietly down the hall to the elevator that would take him from the penthouse to the car garage in the basement of the skyscraper. Once in the basement, Alan went to Scott's new car and he smiled at her beauty. Sleek black, sparkling ebony in the moonlight. He ran his fingers appreciatively over her paintjob and eagerly pressed the unlock button. He remembered to disarm the alarm before climbing into the interior of the hot off the lot car.

At fifteen, all Alan could dream about at this point was driving a car. He wouldn't be allowed to get his learner's permit for another year. But, how hard could it be? Putting the key in the ignition, Alan held his breath once more as he started the ignition and marveled at how smooth her start-up was. The engine purred quietly, and it was all Alan could do to not squeal like a school girl at taking Scott's car for a drive around the block. He took care to carefully back out of the parking place Scott had chosen, right next to his father's car. Once out of the parking place, Alan smoothly shifted the car to drive and he took care with steering the car. It took him a second to remember how to drive from watching his dad and brothers utilize a vehicle.

Once he got everything figured out, Alan left the parking garage – completely bypassing the parking guard. The guy didn't know Alan hadn't had a license, the youngster told him his dad asked him to run to the corner market for some sodas for he and his brothers and that was explanation enough. Alan was granted permission to exit the parking garage and with the freedom, Alan drove off into the night. He seriously only meant to go around the block a time or two before he returned Scott's car and went to bed. But then that's where the notorious saying 'famous last words' comes into play. Alan meant to. But then _meaning to_ and _doing_ are two completely different things.

… … … … … … … … … … …

Alan slammed his bedroom door, to try to drown out his father who was yelling after him. At fifteen years old, Alan thought he was old enough to make his own decisions. His father on the other hand couldn't disagree more. Case in point, Alan thought it'd be a clever idea to take his older brother Scott's brand-new Mercedes Benz for a joy ride at a quarter to midnight when the rest of the household was back home sleeping, without a driver's license or a learner's permit. He not only ran a red light, thereby catching the eye of an on-duty patrolman, he also crashed the car into a stoplight after taking out a corner mailbox and fire hydrant. The car was totaled much to the horror of Scott who'd just driven it off the lot not even 24 hours prior. Suffice it to say, Scott was more worried about his new baby than the welfare of his baby brother and he didn't lift a finger to stop police when they arrested Alan and took him to the station to be booked for grand theft auto and destruction of private property. He in all actuality demanded they arrest Alan and his father for that matter didn't get involved either.

It was a lesson of the worst kind, especially considering that this wasn't the first run in with the law for Alan. The fifteen-year-old boy was beyond livid. If life were animated, Alan would have steam pouring out of his ears while a steam whistle sounded off. His father let him spend the night in jail to _**learn his lesson**_ and it infuriated Alan more if that were possible. When he was released after Gordon paid the bail to get Alan out, it was his father and immediate older brother that picked him up. Alan and his dad argued the whole trip home, Gordon trying to referee between them.

"Damn it." Jeff groaned as he pinched the bridge of his nose. "That boy is going to be the death of me."

"Dad, I know it's not good timing…but maybe you can go a little easier on Alan. You didn't even ask him if he was okay after last night's collision." Gordon said lightly. He was trying not to make his dad angrier than he already was. His little brother had a black eye and some scrapes when the airbag deployed in his face, but thankfully nothing worse than that.

"Gordon, not now…okay?! I already have it coming from Alan and I don't need it coming from you too." Jeff snapped getting up to go to pour himself a bourbon on the rocks. He heaved a sigh as he took a deep drink of his pick of poison.

"I'm sorry, it's just…I was worried when we got that call and he wasn't taken to the hospital as you know, and he was just taken in for booking." Gordon said before he stood up to leave his dad's office.

Once Gordon left the office, Jeff paused while he finished the rest of his bourbon before going to refill. He'd given it some thought, and he wondered just what he was doing wrong in his parenting for Alan. His four oldest sons didn't ever act out like Alan does and he wondered not for the first time if his late wife's absence was the problem. His late wife died in childbirth with Alan, having suffered complications with placental abruption and bled out delivering Alan.

Jeff didn't like the idea of a military school, but after one of the last stunts Alan pulled prior to his little joyride; one of his colleagues had suggested a military school on the West Coast that his nephew had gone to. It turned his attitude around and he straightened up after only a year in attendance. Jeff felt like he was at the end of his rope with Alan. It was either send Alan off to a military school or potentially plan a funeral for him or worse yet, watch him be locked behind bars. Weighing the lesser of two evils, Jeff felt that a military school was the way to go.

As it were, Jeff logged into his desktop computer and he typed the name of the military school his colleague suggested into his search engine. When he found the phone number, Jeff took a sharp breath before he decided to call them. It wasn't what he wanted to do, but if he had any hope that Alan would turn his ways around, this would be it.

Once he'd dialed the number, he waited with baited breath for the ringtone to connect.

… … … … … … … … … … …

That night at dinner, Jeff announced that there would be a family meeting in the living room when they were finished eating. He didn't indicate that there was a problem, looking between each of his son's faces carefully. Scott had a raised eyebrow, silently inquiring of his father about the meaning behind a family meeting. John looked around in muted silence as he was observing the looks on his brother's faces to see if he could figure out the meaning behind an impromptu meeting. Virgil was trying to ignore the fact that it was very uncomfortable to eat dinner. Alan's stony silence wasn't unnoticed. Gordon, like Virgil was trying not to remind everyone of the fluorescent yellow elephant hiding in the room and he was uncomfortable sitting at the table.

Alan made it a point to not join in the conversation at dinner and when he was asked a question, he pretended not to hear. Jeff was growing tired of Alan's little game, but he didn't say anything. He knew that when he announced to the family that he'd followed through with his threat to send Alan to military school, there'd be an all-out feud especially since Jeff was planning to ask his other sons for input on whether they agreed with sending Alan to military school or not.

Jeff didn't want to see his son put behind bars or killed, he was at the end of his rope. He wished his mother was still alive, Alan closely abided by the parameters his grandma set and it wasn't until she passed away that he'd become a completely different person. Jeff also wondered what he and Lucy could have done differently to prevent her untimely demise. When dinner was finished, and everybody had rinsed their plates and put them in the dish washer, everyone went to the living room and sat down.

Alan sat on one end of the couch while his older brother John sat on the opposite side with Virgil in the middle. Gordon claimed one of the recliners while Scott claimed the other recliner. Jeff was the last to leave the kitchen, having taken the time to load the rest of the dirty dishes in the dish washer before beginning the cycle. He was hoping to give his sons a chance to get comfortable and, he was partly dreading Alan's reaction to the proposition that he attends military school.

Alan had his late mother's temper only it was about fifty times worse. Jeff's mother however always said it wasn't solely Lucy's temper that Alan had and was a combination of Jeff and Lucy's temper making him just a whole lot harder to deal with. When Alan and Jeff argued, they had a habit of trying to out scream each other which made Scott, John, Virgil and Gordon less likely to get involved because neither Jeff nor Alan listened once they got started.

Once all the chores in the kitchen were tended to, Jeff turned out the light and went to the living room to speak with his boys. Looking at Alan quickly, Jeff noticed the black eye and scratches Gordon mentioned earlier. He was disappointed in himself for not noticing before that Alan had been minorly hurt in the accident, but he shook off that disappointment quickly enough.

"Alright boys, may I get your attention please?" Jeff inquired loudly, drawing the gaze of his five sons to him. Once they were all paying attention, Jeff coughed to clear his throat before continuing. "So, to start off the meeting, I wanted to let Scott know that because of Alan's folly and resulting destruction to your new car I will finance the purchase of a new car."

"Awesome, thanks dad." Scott said, directing a fiery glare at Alan who pointedly refused to look at his oldest brother. "But I had full coverage on the car, you don't have to do that."

"Yes, I do. You shouldn't have to report this to your insurance because of my poor parenting of your brother. I don't want your premiums to go up and Alan doesn't have a job to help pay the difference. Besides, you shouldn't be forced to go buy a new car to replace your original." Jeff said. "I'll pay the difference if they up your premiums when you transfer the insurance from the damaged car to the new one."

Scott nodded his thanks at his dad before Jeff continued.

"I also need to take a vote, and it is about Alan. Earlier I said that this stunt you pulled was going to have consequences. I gave it some thought, and I decided on your punishment; but I need to know some input on what your brothers think." Jeff said before delivering his decision. "I've given it some thought, and I've decided that you need to learn more discipline and responsibility for your actions. What better way than with military school?"

"What?! Military school?!" Alan sat up with anger altering his handsome face. "But that's not fair!"

"What IS fair Alan? Was it fair for you to disregard your brother's wishes and take his car out for a joyride? Was it fair for you to break the nose of that classmate of yours or to damage the locker which you slammed his face into? Was it fair for you to break your other classmate's two front teeth and saddle me with his dental bill?" Jeff asked, feeling his own temper rise slightly. He almost asked Alan if it was fair that Jeff lost his wife, his brothers and himself to have lost their mother because of delivering Alan, but Jeff held back.

"I don't care if you guys vote, I'm NOT going to military school!" Alan said as he stood up to go to his room.

"You SIT back down young man! I am not finished with you." Jeff replied hotly as he stopped in front of Alan and used intimidation to make his son reclaim his seat. "You will be dismissed when I tell you."

Turning to the rest of his sons, Jeff asked for an explanation from his sons on why it'd be both good and bad for Alan to attend military school. Starting with Scott, Jeff asked for his opinion.

"Well, I think military school would be good for Alan because as you previously stated; he will learn responsibility and discipline. I think we've been too lenient on Alan since he was a baby and we let him get away with too much. Now it's like we're wrapped around his finger and I'm no puppet." Scott looked back at Alan venomously before continuing. "I still haven't forgiven you and it'll be a long time before you can earn my trust back. I think you need to grow up and quit being a kid about everything. You can't hide behind dad's money or prestige your whole life and it's important that you figure it out now."

"Can you think of any negative aspects to Alan attending military school Scott?" Jeff asked knowing that Alan was fuming no more than five feet from him.

"Besides growing a conscience? No." Scott replied.

"Alright, John?" Jeff inquired as he sighed deeply.

"Honestly? I don't like the idea of sending him to a military school. If we want him to learn responsibility, shouldn't we be the ones to teach him?" John asked as he looked from Alan to his dad. "I mean military school is good and all but that just teaches him to respect his superiors, we aren't his superiors despite being older than him. We're his family."

"Is that all you have to say John?" Scott asked as he scratched the back of his head.

"Yeah, I don't agree nor disagree that military school is for the best for Alan." John replied softly before passing the buck to Virgil.

"Why are you making us vote dad? I don't want Alan to go to military school, I want him to stay here with us." Virgil asked, feeling more than a little hurt at having to decide his brother's fate. "I mean like John said, military school is a great idea and all, but he shouldn't have to be forced to learn respect and responsibility from other people that aren't a part of this family."

"Is that all Virgil?" Scott asked, hoping he could get them to vote for Alan to be sent away to military school. "What other reasons do you have for Alan not going to military school?"

"He's the last part of mom that we'll ever have. If we push him away, we lose him." Virgil argued, feeling torn with agreeing with his family for Alan's benefit and wanting to keep his baby brother on a short leash.

"And that part of mom will be gone if we don't buckle down and make him grow up. He's fifteen years old, he should be more responsible by now and he still must have a baby sitter. I know I don't trust him to be at home alone." Scott argued, making Alan's jaw drop and his eyes narrow in anger. "If he continues down the path he's on, we'll be burying him or watching authorities lock him behind bars. I don't know about you, but I'd rather have him be mad at me forever than to have to face either of those other two options."

"Gordon?" Jeff asked as he looked at his second youngest son. The red head was looking nervously between each of his brothers and he chewed on his lip while thinking over everything positive and negative in sending Alan to military school.

"I know it's not really any consolation, but I was more reckless like Alan was when I was his age and older when I joined WASP…I still think it was the best thing for me regardless of getting hurt and I think this would be a good thing for you Alan." Gordon turned to address Alan himself instead of talking about him like he wasn't in the room. "I know you detest the idea now, but I think one day you'll thank dad and the rest of us for making this decision."

"Let's take a vote." Jeff began, looking at each of his sons. "All those in favor of Alan's being sent to military school? A show of hands please."

Scott, John, Gordon and Jeff raised their hands. Virgil's shoulders sagged when he realized that they lost by default.

"All those opposed?" Jeff inquired before Virgil and Alan raised their hand in opposition. "That's it then, I'll submit the admission paperwork and in two weeks' time when they begin a new quarter Alan will be enrolled."

"I can't believe this! You guys are my family, I thought family stuck up for one another and the only one I saw sticking up for me was Virgil!" Alan said as he stood up once more before he turned to his dad and brothers. Pointing at John and Gordon, Alan addressed them next. "You two are traitors and I can't believe you!"

"Sit back down young man!" Jeff said sharply forcing Alan to turn on him.

"I will NOT sit back down and be talked about like I don't exist! All I heard from you all during your little vote was Alan this, Alan that, Alan, Alan, Alan! Well, news flash, Alan is right here, and Alan has ears and a brain and can HEAR you all! Maybe instead of talking about me when I'm in the same room, you all can address me like I matter! You keep saying you want me to grow up and quit acting like a kid, but maybe you should follow your own advice and begin treating me like an adult instead of a kid!" Alan said before storming out of the living room and taking the stairs two at a time to get to the upstairs hallway where the bedrooms were. When he made it to his room, he slammed the door to his bedroom hard and felt satisfied when he felt an almighty shake from the force of the slamming door. He flipped the lock and moved to his bed to bury his head in the pillows before screaming into the down feather pillows. Never had he ever felt so betrayed in his whole life.

… … … … … … … … … … …

The next two weeks passed by fast for the family, but it crawled at a snail's pace for Alan. The night before he was to leave, Jeff asked Alan for his cell phone at dinner and told him the school prohibited the use of mobile phones or any other communication devices because they distracted from a productive learning environment. Alan handed over the phone grudgingly before he shoved his dinner plate away like some petulant four-year-old. He didn't wait to be excused, simply shoved away from the table and left in a huff. His dad didn't say anything to stop him, nor did any of his brothers.

When it was time for bed, Jeff stopped by Alan's room and tried the knob when Alan didn't answer the door. He noticed the lights were off, but the door was locked. When Jeff reached for the pin key to the door, he noticed it missing and figured Alan grabbed it to prevent any of his family from entering his room. Figuring he'd met his match, Jeff whispered a good night at the door before going to his room to try to sleep.

The following morning Alan wouldn't even look at his dad when he tried to see him off. Virgil was tasked with delivering Alan to the airstrip where the plane would pick up Alan and transport him from Massachusetts to the West coast where he'd begin a new school in the middle of the term. There was a chilled bite to the air and even Jeff had needed a turtle neck before venturing outside to see Alan off. The younger refused to even acknowledge Scott when the older brother tried to hug him goodbye, going so far as to give Scott the cold shoulder when he came near. He pushed John and Gordon away when they tried to hug him and climbed in the car. Crossing his arms, Alan sat against the passenger seat, silently fuming until Virgil put the car in drive and they set out.

They hadn't been driving for more than five minutes before Virgil spoke up, anything to fill the void with noise.

"You know Alan, I know it doesn't seem fair to you but dad's only doing this for your benefit." Virgil said, coming to a stop at a red light and drumming his fingers against the steering wheel. "This was the last thing he or any of us wanted for you. I just wish you could see where dad is coming from. Military school will provide the discipline you need to hopefully straighten up. I don't want you to be locked up behind bars or worse yet, buried at the cemetery where mom is buried. I want my little brother back, not this rebel that picks a fight with everyone you encounter or waits for the family to go to sleep before going out to stir up trouble."

"Et tu Virgil?" Alan asked, feeling more than a little betrayed by one of the only brothers that seemed to advocate for him when he needed to be bailed out for one of the many punishments their dad doled out.

"Alan, this is for your own good and you know this. I don't know why you're treating us like we're the bad guys. You heard the judge at your last hearing when your bail was set, one more strike and you're going to juvie. Is that what you want? There's only so much power in dad's money or his reputation, eventually even you can't hide behind that." Virgil said following the route on the GPS to the airfield. They drove for a while longer, Alan unknowing of any details beyond he was being taken to military school and he'd be picked up at the airfield in California and delivered by his dad's best friend from his time in the military who also happened to be the Commandant of the school.

"I hate you all." Alan muttered under his breath, uncaring of the pain he was causing not only his brother but the rest of his family.

To Virgil, Alan's mutter was filled with such hatred and malice that that simple four-word sentence cut him deeply. He went quiet for the remainder of the drive and when they arrived, Alan's jaw dropped when he saw the plane.

It was a small propeller plane and even Virgil had to admit that thing was pathetic.

"A Cessna 152?! I thought dad was having me taken in Tracy One?!" Alan asked, all kinds of outraged that he wasn't arriving in style like he'd assumed but being taken in a pitiful little prop plane…one that looked like it wouldn't make it off the runway, let alone make it from Massachusetts to California.

"I'm surprised also." Virgil said looking at Alan with a hurt expression before he opened the car door and went to greet the pilot. The pilot had worked at this airfield since Virgil was six and he knew them all well. He'd been a great friend of their father's and he'd stayed with the boys when their mom and dad had rushed to the hospital when their mom started bleeding in her seventh month of pregnancy with Alan. "Hey there Frank, how're you doing today?"

"I'm doing well, thank you for asking Virgil." Frank said as he patted Virgil's back in greeting. Alan finally exited the vehicle and came around to the front of the plane with a sullen expression. "Hello there Alan! This plane I'm preparing for you?"

Alan wouldn't honor that question with a response and he just climbed into the plane and shut the door without a reply, making Frank look at Virgil with a look that told the younger man that even he was surprised by Alan's attitude.

"Yeah, Alan crossed one too many lines and he's off to military school. Dad's had it up to here with…" Virgil tried to explain making Frank shake his head.

"What can you do? I know it doesn't help much, but I'll deliver Alan there to the best of my ability." Frank said as he finished preparing and gave the plane one last look around to make sure everything was okay.

"Yeah, it's just not easy you know? I never thought Alan would be such a trouble maker. I thought we'd raised him better than that. I guess the long and short of it is that…we can only offer so much and in the end, I guess we weren't enough." Virgil said, wrapping himself up in his jacket and hugging himself as he talked with Frank. He was deeply bothered that Alan acted out the way he did and even Virgil knew that Alan wasn't always this way. He used to be so sweet and not causing trouble everywhere he went. One day that all changed and even Virgil didn't know what caused it. He noticed it not long after their grandmother died but didn't know if that was the cause or not. Aside from Gordon, Virgil was the next closest brother to Alan and he couldn't figure out what made Alan flip a switch.

"I know son…this isn't my first rodeo with you boys. He needs your momma and unfortunately with her gone, he's missing her, and he doesn't even know it. Only she can fill the void that is in his heart. The closest person he had close to a momma was your grandmother and with her gone also… even I can see that he's crying out for attention, no matter if it's good or bad. Only now, he's gotten himself in the hot water and nobody is giving him any length of rope to pull himself out. He'll see one day that this was for the best." Frank said softly before patting Virgil on the back again. "I got to get going okay son? I'll see to it that he makes it to California in one piece and I'll make sure that he's with David before I return."

"Thank you, Frank. You're awesome." Virgil said before he stepped back to a safe distance to watch the little Cessna prepare for takeoff. He watched as Frank climbed into the cockpit and the propeller begin to turn before the air was filled with a loud hum. He waved when the plane began taxiing the runway and he hung around until the plane had flown away. He dropped his arm with one last whisper. "God speed little brother."

… … … … … … …

The drive back to the penthouse was uneventful for Virgil. To be honest though, he hardly noticed his surroundings. The last sentence Alan muttered was echoing in Virgil's head and made it hard for him to focus. _'I hate you all.'_ Did Alan truly hate them all, or was it like Frank said? Was this all just Alan crying out for attention? It's not like they neglected him. Far from it. Virgil knew he tried to spend time with Alan, making sure he tried to find some common ground and develop a love for things Alan loved. As did their brothers. Hell, even their dad tried spending time with Alan when he wasn't stuck in the office. So why did Alan act the way he did? Why did he think it was okay to act out and cause them all trouble? Did he not care that it gave their family a bad name when he stole their brother's car and destroyed it? Did he not care that it made schools hesitant to accept him into their curriculum because of his expulsions? Did Alan just simply not care?

These questions ran through Virgil's head and it upset him to think that maybe Alan made their lives difficult just for the hell of it. Maybe he was bored and thought it was fun to treat them all like puppets, with Alan believing himself to be the 'puppet master'. Virgil wanted to give Alan the benefit of the doubt, but a part of him still questioned, _'why'._ Why them, why their family, why their mother, why…just why?

Pulling to a stop in his favorite café parking lot, Virgil went in to order an espresso milkshake. He loved espresso milkshakes, finding them to be delectably sweet with the desired oomph that espresso provided. He noticed the brother's favorite barista was working and she came over to take Virgil's order personally.

"What're you having sugar?" Debbie inquired as she pushed her cherry red hair back from her face. "The usual?"

Virgil nodded with a sad smile before going to pay for his drink. He pulled his wallet out and felt even more sad if that was possible. Upon opening his wallet, Virgil had been greeted with a picture of he and Alan when they were kids. Alan was maybe two or three at the time and he was laying with Virgil while they watched a movie. Virgil had been sick or something when the picture was taken and had been sleeping when his kid brother crawled up to join him on the couch. Their grandma had snapped a picture of the endearing pose and had given a copy to Virgil when he expressed a desire to have at least one picture in his wallet when he left to attend college. He put down a ten-dollar bill and his eyes widened when he saw one of his favorite pastries and his milkshake on the counter. He hadn't meant to order a pastry.

"Oh, Debbie I didn't mean to order this." Virgil said. He wasn't really in the mood for food.

"You look like you needed it hon. It's on the house." Debbie said before taking the ten and charging him for the milkshake. Virgil knew he wasn't going to win this round so he left a nice tip in the tip jar. He went to sit at his usual seat and noticed for the first time that across the street where a mail box usually sat were skid marks, a large dent in the stoplight which was surrounded by sawhorses and caution tape. There was also a huge hole in the ground where the fire hydrant usually was and orange traffic cones. It occurred to Virgil that this was where Alan crashed Scott's car.

"Damn kid, you're just a magnet for trouble, aren't you?" Virgil muttered under his breath. He took a drink of his milkshake and rolled his eyes at the decadent drink. It should be a sin for drinks to be this good. He eyed the pastry for a second before smiling as he took a bite. The warm chocolate oozed out as he bit into the dough and he groaned quietly beneath his breath. He really shouldn't be enjoying these treats when his brother was stuck on a plane going to California for military school, but after giving it a few more seconds thought – Virgil decided he wasn't going to let the things Alan said bother him further. It was stupid for him to give Alan that when Alan just said not even an hour ago that he hated them all for sending him away to school. Even Virgil knew though that not letting the things Alan said hurt him were easier said than done.


	2. Brace For Impact

_**A/N: Wow! Thank you to all of you that reviewed! I am blown away by the volume of reviews I received on this first chapter. Here is the anticipated second chapter and you'll notice there is a bit of discombobulation. I intended there to be a bit of confusion present with this second chapter. I did try to clarify, but just in case any of you are confused...it was intended. The only thing is, if any of you readers are familiar with planes and notice things might be askew...just know that I have zero knowledge surrounding planes. I've never even flown before, so forgive any glaring errors concerning planes or mentions of plane related gear.**_

 _ **Now that we've gotten that cleared up...on with the story!**_

* * *

Alan gazed out the window, looking away from Virgil when he waved to the younger. He was still angry over being sent away to military school and he was convinced that he'd stay mad at his family for a long time coming.

"Wave good-bye to your brother." Frank said, trying to be playful to make Alan happy or get him to relax, but Alan remained stoic. "Tough crowd today."

Alan did see Virgil wave as the plane took off down the runway, but he couldn't let go of his hurt and anger long enough to wave to the only brother that voted in his favor. He looked down, feigning extreme interest in his sneakers and the grody plane floor. Once the plane lifted off, Alan gave a cursory glance around the plane and took in the fading stickers, the aged upholstery on the seats and he wrinkled his nose in distaste. Of course, his dad would rather send him in this heap of junk, as opposed to the style and comfort of Tracy One.

Once they'd gotten leveled out in the air, Frank told Alan that he was welcome to take off his seat belt for a few minutes. Alan ignored Frank's attempts to talk to him, pretending conveniently not to hear him. Every question Frank asked Alan about his favorite activities, movies, games and hobbies was pointedly ignored and after about an hour with what Alan estimated to be about one hundred questions, Frank finally quit asking questions. The next few hours passed by totally void of communication.

When Alan did feel like speaking, he remarked about the poor conditions of the plane.

"This plane is disgusting, you really need to consider trashing it and getting something better." Alan's nose stayed wrinkled as he detected a faint sour smell.

Frank chuckled at what Alan said but glanced over his shoulder to smile at Alan.

"I know I should probably retire ol'Betsy here, but she's my girl and she's going to keep flying with me until she can't anymore. Besides, you need money to get a new plane and that's something I don't have a lot of. I barely have the money to pay my storage fees at the airstrip." Frank couldn't help but to chuckle once more at what Alan said. He didn't take any offense to Alan's comment. He knew this plane had seen better years. But wear and tear was common when using his own personal plane as the training plane, air taxi and scenic flight tour plane. "Besides, I'm trying to keep her going until you learn to fly. What do you have, another year before I can take you up in the air and teach you to fly?"

"If I'm lucky, I'll learn to fly using a different plane. This thing is old, and I don't want to learn to fly using an old plane." Alan replied, glancing out the window at the land beneath them.

Frank and Alan had been in the air for no more than four hours when the plane started experiencing what pilot and passenger assumed to be turbulence. The cabin shook violently, making Alan brace himself against the wall of the plane and the armrest with his hands. The first time the plane shuddered could be ignored, but when it began audibly hiccupping and shaking the longer they stayed in the air, Alan grew more concerned. He felt his heart thumping in his chest and he directed his gaze at the pilot's quarters where Frank was flicking buttons.

"Frank what's going on?" Alan asked, speaking voluntarily once more since he'd boarded the plane. Something didn't feel right, and Alan knew it. The cabin was shaking too much and when he looked out the front windscreen, he could see the propeller stalling before it'd start spinning again. "Frank?!"

"I don't know Alan, she was working just fine this morning." Frank said as he checked the gauges and flipping switches to try to figure out the problem. Suddenly the propeller stopped completely, and an alarm started blaring in the cabin. "Damn. Come on, Betsy!"

Frank picked up the quick reference handbook and started following the steps as they were listed to attempt to jumpstart the engine. The more he had to troubleshoot, the louder the alarms seemed to get. Alan felt his heart clenching in his chest as he noticed once more that the propeller was failing to rotate. Soon all that Alan heard was the cacophony of blaring alarms, Frank's muttered expletives, his own racing pulse and nothing all at once. One glance out the little window next to him seemed to kick start his brain.

"Frank what's happening?!" Alan screamed as he gazed out the window to see that they were beginning to lose altitude.

"Just some technical difficulties!" Frank replied making Alan mutter under his breath.

"Thank you Captain Obvious." Alan felt his pocket, wishing now that he had his cell phone. He'd call his dad or one of his brothers to let them know their plane was going down, not that they'd have believed him come to think of it. His dad had confiscated his cell phone when the school he was going to specified that they would prefer students not have cell phones.

One more glance out the window told Alan that they were not only going down, but they were going down fast. He could do nothing to help Frank, he knew next to nothing about piloting a plane except for what he'd watched his dad and brothers do. He wasn't going to be able to get his learner's permit for both flying or driving until he was sixteen and he was a year away from that. And to top it off, they weren't just gliding…they were in a dive and the ground was coming up fast. If Frank, who was an experienced pilot for over 25 years was having difficulty, then how would Alan; an inexperienced teenage pilot wannabe be able to provide help to Frank?

When the flight started dropping lower, Alan found himself speechless. He thought back to the last time he'd interacted with his dad and brothers. He refused to hug Scott goodbye, he'd told Virgil that he'd hated them all…he'd called John and Gordon traitors when they'd begrudgingly agreed with their dad to send him off to military school and he scoffed at his dad when he'd told him he loved him. As the plane cabin gave another violent shake, Alan felt an icy cold hand grip his heart tight in his chest and he knew that if he survived this he'd be a better person. He wasn't ready to die.

"God, I'm sorry. I'm so sorry for what I said. Please, God…let me live. I'll be better." Alan begged in a ragged whisper when he bowed his head, preparing for impact. The last time he'd looked out the window, the ground looked so much closer and Alan knew that impact would occur imminently. He didn't know what else he could ask for except to simply survive, just so he could apologize to his dad in person and tell his brothers he loved them one more time.

"Brace yourself Alan, we're going down!" Frank yelled over the alarm blaring in the plane as they'd reached a critical in loss of altitude. He tried to send a mayday over the radio, but he failed to get an immediate response.

When they got closer to the ground, a proximity alarm began sounding off. Soon Frank's voice mingled with a male voice warning "Too Low, Terrain, Pull Up" which looped to repeat after every cycle followed by a warning bell.

Alan clamped his eyes closed tightly, bracing himself as he curled up. He clasped his hands over the back of his head and started whispering a prayer his grandmother had taught him. "Though I walk in the shadow of the valley of death, no evil would I fear, for you are with me. Dad, I'm so sorry. Grandma, mom, watch over them all for me."

Anyone in the surrounding area if they'd seen the plane before it crashed, they'd have been screaming at the pilot to pull up for they were going down over a heavily wooded mountain range. Instead, nobody in the immediate location noticed the plane and so nobody saw when the plane dropped down, the tops of trees grazing into the bottom of the plane. Inside the cabin and cockpit however, Frank was trying to keep control of the plane to prevent it breaking apart or worse yet, bursting to flames. Thankfully he'd dropped the fuel he had to lighten their load, but it did nothing to slow their descent.

Alan was braced, knees to his chest as he felt the shaking of the plane grow more violent. He might have screamed but he couldn't hear anything beyond his racing pulse in his ears. If there was ever a time where he wished he could do things over, this was one of those moments; as the shaking of the plane was soon combined with the screeching of metal and the loud pops of breaking trees. Alan prayed that he survived and got a second chance. He would swear that during the events of the plane going down, that he saw his life flash before his eyes.

Unfortunately for Alan, the memories that stuck out the most were the things he'd done to defy his father or disobeying one of his older brother's orders. Such as taking Scott's car out after he'd strictly said no to taking Alan out for a spin in his new car. Alan waited for Scott to go to bed first, which the younger knew would happen. Scott followed the 'early to bed, early to rise' mantra religiously and he'd predictably been the first in their household to turn in, followed closely by each of his brothers. Alan pretended to turn in for bed and waited for his father to turn in as well. When his dad went to bed a little after eleven, Alan picked up his tennis shoes and snatched Scott's key before sneaking from their family dwelling to the garage downstairs. From there, Alan donned his tennis shoes and disabled the security lock before getting in the car and marveling at the bells and whistles associated with a new car.

He'd been excited with the thrill of taking his brother's car for a spin and he'd done what he'd seen his brothers and father do dozens of times. The thought that he didn't have a learner's permit nor a licensed driver in the car with him didn't occur to him until he accidently ran a red light. Fortunately, there hadn't been anybody else at the intersection. Unfortunately for him, a cop did see him run a red light and immediately pursued him. Alan in a panic got the accelerator and the brakes mixed up and gunned the engine, which also increasingly unfortunate caused Alan to speed through another intersection thankfully with a green light and into a corner mailbox, fire hydrant and lastly a stoplight.

The airbag deployed immediately, and Alan saw the red and blue lights behind him belatedly realizing that he'd wrecked his brother's new car. The police officer that tried to pull him over took him into custody immediately following the crash after Alan said he was fine. Scott got the call first since it was his car that had been stolen while their dad got the call that Alan was in custody. Scott had been stark raving mad over his new car, completely unsympathetic to his little brother having a developing black eye. Jeff on the other hand had refused to come to the police station, telling Alan that he'd gotten himself in this mess; he could afford to stay the night in jail.

It sucked, but now that Alan was reflecting on it all – he knew he was to blame for all of this. He wished he hadn't followed his naïve thought that he was invincible and that nothing would happen to him. Obviously, this was karma coming back to bite him in the ass and he hadn't anybody to blame but himself.

Alan was aware of the cabin shaking more, Frank was cursing a blue streak in the cockpit and Alan bringing his head up marginally to look out the main windscreen told Alan that not only were they seriously crashing their flight, but they were amongst the trees. Alan quickly brought his head back down, covering his head and trying to curl into a smaller ball so that he had hope of surviving. He'd hate it if his dad and brothers voted to send him away to military school for his own good and they wound up burying him like they'd originally stated was their greatest fear regarding Alan's recklessness.

… … … … … … … … … … …

Jeff drummed his fingers on his desk as he waited for his friend David to call to say that he'd retrieved Alan. It'd been almost fourteen hours since Alan left, and Jeff knew that Frank would stop periodically to give them time to refuel and stretch their legs. Frank didn't promise they'd call, but Jeff hoped they would, so he was waiting anxiously to hear from David that Alan had arrived safely. The estimated time that Frank provided told Jeff that he and Alan should have gotten there hours ago. But Jeff was giving them the benefit of the doubt that there were delays in travel time due to stopping to have a bite of lunch along the way or Alan giving Frank trouble.

He waited for another hour before he called David to find out why he hadn't called yet. Jeff knew David was going to keep Alan at his house over the weekend before he took him to the school to get him situated. When the phone call was answered, David answered with a question taking Jeff by surprise.

"Jeff, did Alan's flight leave as scheduled?"

"Yes, Virgil was the one to see his flight off and they left ahead of schedule. At least five minutes ahead." Jeff said, confused about what David was talking about.

"Well, Frank and Alan haven't arrived yet and Frank hasn't called me to say there's been a delay. I'm just wondering where they are." David said before he walked around the air space where he was supposed to meet Alan and Frank. "Have you heard from them?"

"No, I haven't heard from them since Virgil left here with Alan to drop him off with Frank. I don't know where they could be." Jeff commented, feeling dread settle in his stomach like a ten-ton boulder. "I thought you hadn't called because maybe you were experiencing trouble with Alan."

"No." David commented before he started pacing. "Why don't you call the air traffic controllers and see if they can get a lock on their location? There should be somebody that can recognize a Cessna 152 on the radar. Maybe they stopped to refuel and Alan's giving Frank trouble."

"That's my hope too David." Jeff replied before he hung up with David and went to call the airport that Frank flew out of to see if any of them had heard from Frank since he left. He'd like to believe that if Alan and Frank had had trouble with the plane that they'd have called him to report.

… … … … … … … … … … …

 _Ten hours earlier_

Opening his eyes, Alan was aware of his body throbbing in time with his heart. He hoped it was just a bad dream. He was preparing himself to go out to the living room, sit at the table and laugh with his brothers over how stupid this nightmare had been. But his body hurt so much. Alan sobbed out a groan as he slowly sat up. He could taste copper in his mouth, knowing he'd either bit his lip, tongue or cheek and he spat a mouthful of blood that had accumulated in his mouth before he was pushing debris that fell on him with impact off to find Frank. He looked around to see the plane had indeed crashed. It wasn't a bad dream like he'd hoped, and Frank was sitting in the cockpit calling "mayday" over the radio trying to get a signal out. Frank turned his head painfully to look hard at Alan, despite their visibility being next to nothing when the younger groaned aloud again.

"Are you okay Alan?" Frank asked, glad both he and Alan had survived their descent and inevitable crash. He did wonder how they were going to get out of there. He didn't know where they were, and he hadn't been able to look at the compass before he'd lost all power to his dashboard.

"I think so…what about you?" Alan asked even as he felt like the tin-man from Wizard of Oz before getting his joints greased. He moved slowly and stiffly. Alan noticed he was shaking when he reached down to undo his safety belt. The next time he moved, Alan couldn't help but to hiss aloud at the pain. He felt like he'd been hit by a wrecking ball. He couldn't believe how sore he was. It hadn't been but maybe an hour since the initial plane wreck and already Alan's whole body was throbbing in time with his heartbeat.

"I'll live…but we're in trouble." Frank said before he released his safety harness, so he could stand, however that proved a challenge when he muttered under his breath and quickly sat back down.

"What's wrong?" Alan asked as he finally unbuckled his safety belt and slid from his seat, finding that except for some cuts, bumps and bruises, he was okay. The problem however was that Frank was hurt.

"I dislocated my shoulder and our radio is out." Frank said as he shook his head in the negative. "I couldn't get in touch with Air Traffic Control to let them know we were going down. As far as anyone is concerned, nobody knows we're out here." Frank said watching the look on Alan's face change rapidly from fear to desolation. "You don't happen to have your cell phone on you, do you?"

"No, dad took it away from me before we left. He said the school I was enrolled in frowned on cell phones, so he disconnected it for now." Alan said, anguish apparent. "What are we going to do?"

"I don't know Alan, best I can say is we stay put for now and hopefully help will arrive soon." Frank said before he leaned back in his seat.

"Okay." Alan didn't know what else he could say either. They were stuck for now and there was no way he could go out in search of help…especially since he didn't know where they were.

… … … … … … … … … … …

Jeff shuffled his feet nervously as he waited for someone from search and rescue to call him back. He'd reported his son and longtime friend missing after nearly twenty hours without contact. He'd already told Virgil and Gordon who were at home when he'd gotten a phone call from David. He'd called the air traffic control on his side and received news that the last known location of the Cessna 152 was Virginia. Jeff had called John and Scott who had gone out to a club with some friends and told them that Alan's flight was missing. He was waiting to hear back from them and he was also waiting to hear back from search and rescue. They were organizing a search party to begin looking for the two missing individuals.

Jeff was sick to his stomach with worry and he noticed Virgil and Gordon loitering near his office every time the phone rang. They like himself were waiting to hear that Alan and Frank had been found and that they were both okay, but something in the pit of Jeff's stomach told him that things were worse than believed. Now he wished he'd listened to Virgil when the middle son said he didn't agree with sending Alan to military school.

… … … … … … … … … … …

Alan shivered as he laid back to back with Frank against the floor of the plane. They'd been down for over twenty-three hours now and Alan wondered where they were. Judging by the woods, they were out in the middle of nowhere and Alan didn't know in what state or county or district they were lost in. Alan, through Frank's instruction had to push hard on Frank's shoulder to pop the dislocated joint back in its socket. Suffice it to say Alan was squeamish, and he'd felt sick to his stomach after completing that task.

Frank had been a good sport about it and he'd instructed Alan step by step until it was time to wrap his shoulder to control the swelling. Alan helped Frank unbutton his shirt, so he could stick his arm in across his chest so that his arm was supported by a crude sling instead of hanging limply by his side. After night fell, Alan and Frank were forced to turn in due to lack of light. The flashlight they had was somewhere in the plane but with how sore Alan and Frank were from the crash, neither really felt compelled to look for it.

The two of them had settled in for the night, Frank advising Alan to sleep closer to him to conserve body heat. The plan according to Frank had been to take a closer look at the antennae come first light and the black box to see if it was transmitting their location. They had only settled a few hours ago and it wasn't what Alan wanted to do again anytime soon. He was cold, hungry and he couldn't sleep worth a tinker's toot.

Frank groaned in his sleep, making Alan stir from his light slumber to check on him. Grabbing their first aid kit, Alan tipped a couple ibuprofen into his hand before he shook Frank to wake him for his dose of pain medications. It was the best they had until they could get rescued. Once Frank had taken the pain medications that Alan supplied him with, they both laid back down and tried to sleep.

Too soon for his liking, the sun was up, and Alan and Frank were woken up by a wild bird morning song. Both sat up stiffly, and Alan stood after a couple good stretches. He lifted his shirt when he felt his muscle pull across his stomach and gasped at the belt burn from his safety belt. Figuring a belt burn came with the experience, Alan dropped his shirt back in place without saying anything to Frank about it. He helped Frank up and together they stepped out of the Cessna and surveyed their surroundings. There wasn't a house or any sound of a highway for possibly miles.

"Well, I don't think we're in Kansas anymore Toto." Alan commented to Frank who gave him a look that told him he didn't appreciate the humor of their situation. Alan didn't bat an eye at the poorly timed joke, simply waited for Frank's instruction on how to proceed.

"Okay Alan, first things first…we need to try to rustle up some grub." Frank said before he wandered over to a bush to look for any vegetation that could reasonably be considered food. Deciding he'd best look for food also, Alan told Frank he was going for a walk before he wandered into the woods behind the downed plane. While he was gone, Alan figured he'd answer the call of nature and found a small copse of trees to use for cover. When he'd finished, Alan resumed his walk and went about checking trees, bushes, turning logs over in hopes that he'd find some bugs at least. It wasn't what he'd figure a satisfying meal to be, but one couldn't afford to be picky when food wasn't readily available. When he failed to find anything that could be deemed as edible, Alan turned around and returned to Frank.

"I couldn't find anything that was edible." Alan said before he sat down with his back against the plane.

"That's okay, I just found some rations that I forgot I packed that we can eat. It's not much, but it'll keep us going for the time being. It won't last us forever, but it'll keep us from going hungry." Frank said before he passed some prepackaged food to the younger boy. Alan saw eight packages of dried ramen. Alan grimaced at the dried noodles from the ramen pack Frank handed to him. They didn't have any way to boil water, so Alan ate the dry noodles as they were and he made a face at the taste of unflavored ramen. After chewing the crunchy noodles to the best of his ability, Alan got up to walk around some more. "Once I'm done eating, we should see what we can do to fix the antennae, so we can get a signal out."

"Yes Frank." Alan said softly before he did a walk around of the plane to assess the damage. They were resting on a ton of foliage that had been ripped from the trees in the surrounding area during their crash landing. If nothing else, Alan figured he could take some of the foliage and start a fire which they could use to signal a plane, though with the tree cover the chances of a plane flying overhead and noticing the fire were unlikely. The next few hours consisted of Frank instructing Alan on how to dismantle the dashboard to check the connections as well as the nosecone of the plane. The hours flitted by quickly until the sun began to lower in the sky. Alan tried to ignore the nippy bite to the air. His fingers were numb as were his ears and nose. He realized with a quick glance at Frank how improperly dressed he was for the weather. He'd dressed for California weather knowing that'd be his destination. It'd been unusually cold on the Eastern Seaboard and Alan was seriously regretting shrugging his father's suggestion that he wear at least a windbreaker for the flight. That would have provided at least some cover for Alan during the night and now he was regretting his stupid stubborn pride.


	3. If We Make It Out Alive

_**A/N: Wow, once again I am beyond surprised and incredibly pleased with the amount of reviews on the latest chapter as well as this story overall. I'll be honest, I was not sure how well it'd be received with Alan being the "bad-boy"...but I decided to take my chances. As for all you Scott lovers, I am so sorry if you're disliking Scott in this story for being such a hard-head. I've always seen Scott as the deliverer of tough love and I figured it'd work best in this story.**_

 **Please keep in mind that I do not utilize the assistance of a beta reader so I acknowledge that all mistakes are my own. I also wanted to thank all those that have been reading as well as pressing that favorite/follow checkbox. It brings me great happiness when I see the email notification that I've got reviews waiting on stories. Please keep in mind as well that I do also accept constructive criticism in reviews...I just don't approve of disparaging remarks being made about my stories. I understand that some folks may not like certain stories or genres, but that's no reason to tear someone down. Be kind to one another and if you have to offer criticism, be gentle.**

 **Anyway, on with the story!**

 **Thanks!**

 **Sa-Blue-Eyed-Angel 2010**

* * *

Jeff was nearly beside himself with worry when it was determined that the plane Alan and Frank were in had gone down, though where it was currently being a total mystery. The last known location of the plane coordinates was roughly somewhere in the backwoods of Virginia. Scott and John had returned post haste when Jeff called them to say that the flight had gone missing and the four brothers had been trying and failing miserably to get their dad to eat a bite of dinner or to go lay down.

Scott seemed unconcerned at first, jumping to the conclusion that the flight wasn't missing. He originally entertained the idea that Alan was causing trouble for Frank and that the older man was hesitant to call them to report Alan causing trouble, but Virgil and Gordon jumped down Scott's throat for making that assumption. After they'd bawled him out for being so heartless when their dad was close to losing it, Scott quietly sat by as Jeff called various people to figure out a strategy when it came to the search for Alan and Frank.

John listened to each call and soon decided he couldn't sit idly by while his father was burning the candle on both ends searching for his youngest child. He stood after the latest call with affirmation of the last known coordinates of the Cessna and he approached his dad to tap him lightly, breaking him from his volatile thoughts and obsessive pacing for a few seconds.

"Can I see those coordinates one more time?" John asked as he watched his dad make yet another lap around his office in the penthouse of their apartment on top of Tracy Enterprises.

"Knock yourself out." Jeff muttered as he continued pacing making John go to the desktop computer.

John logged in to his account on his father's computer before he punched in the coordinates last logged on the GPS. What he got was a little disheartening, yet also enlightening. "The Appalachian Trail?"

"What?" Jeff asked as he paused in his pacing to hear John out.

"The coordinates provided suggest that the Cessna went down somewhere over the Appalachian Trail in Virginia. If they are capable of walking, they should be able to reach the trailhead and get help." John said, hoping that Alan who was a whiz in Geography would recognize his location without having been there in person before and be able to lead himself and Frank out of the wilderness. But that was if they survived the crash and weren't killed or critically injured.

A search party was underway currently with crews combing the woods thoroughly. Alan and Frank had been lost now for a little over 48 hours. The clock was ticking down the minutes and John knew that Alan and Frank had a limited time left if they weren't found soon. The colder winter months were soon approaching, though John hoped it wouldn't take more than a few more days to find Alan and Frank (hopefully alive). Jeff, John, Scott, Virgil and Gordon had requested to be involved, but search crews were hesitant to allow them to do so; simply because it was a plane wreck and search party officials didn't want the family of the victims to see the wreck or anything traumatic. Even Frank's son wanted to get involved, but they wouldn't allow it.

The victim's families were suspended in limbo while they waited for news on their loved ones. Scott, Virgil and Gordon were about as bad as their father with their pacing while John was the only one capable of keeping his head in this situation. John knew there wasn't anything he could do from their apartment to help Alan. If their dad hadn't confiscated Alan's phone and let him keep it, John might have been able to call the cell phone company to get a lock on the GPS, but his dad asked for Alan's phone and Alan handed it over for once without argument. At this time John wanted to kick his little brother's shin for handing over his phone without argument. What a time _not_ to be rebellious?

… … … … … … … … … … …

Hours passed for Alan and Frank while they worked meticulously on trying to repair the antennae, so they could radio out for help. Frank was moving slow, having use of one hand made repairing the antennae a challenge. Alan compensated for the lack of use for Frank's arm. They continued working through the day only stopping when the sun dropped behind the trees. As dusk fell around them, Alan and Frank sat down to split a bit more of prepackaged ration.

Once they had food in their bellies, Alan and Frank decided it was necessary to get an early night. They repeated the night before and slept back to back, using the emergency blanket to contain body heat.

Alan stayed awake, listening to Frank's even and steady breathing. Once he was sure Frank was asleep Alan allowed his wall to come down during the night and he permitted himself to lose his composure. Alan felt the building tears in his eyes and Alan allowed them to come forth, knowing it was inevitable at this point. Already his shoulders were beginning to shake from light sobs. When he felt like they were getting louder, Alan pressed a balled-up fist to his mouth as he tried to quiet his hitched sobs. He didn't want Frank to hear him having a moment of weakness and he didn't want to acknowledge it himself. He wanted his dad, wanted his brothers, and though she'd been dead for fifteen years, he wanted his mom. He'd admit it.

Feeling sorry for himself a few minutes longer, Alan reflected on the last few things he'd said to his family and he regretted it. He wanted to tell his dad and brothers he was sorry for his behavior. He hoped they'd forgive him.

Once he'd let himself have a moment of weakness, Alan fell into a fitful sleep where he dreamed again of the plane crash, only seeing the plane burst into flames and explode. He'd wake periodically panting harshly because of his nightmares before deciding enough was enough and sat up to watch the sun rise over their camp. When Frank woke up, he surprised Alan by making a snap decision that they needed to leave and try to find help. It wasn't wise to remain if there was nobody making noise as if they were actively searching for them.

When they set out, they did so with barely a look back at the plane wreckage. Frank and Alan had used a knife and scratched the paint on the side of the plane to indicate where they were going. They'd already been lost in the woods for three days. They were low on food and were out of water. They'd die after some time if they didn't find water soon. It was cold at night and it got only slightly warmer during the day. An emergency blanket could only keep them so warm and Frank needed to have his shoulder seen to by professionals, even Alan knew that much.

So, they set out at dawn, Alan following Frank who was more knowledgeable with a compass. They walked for several long hours, only stopping every so often to check their compass and to leave obvious markings in their trail so they'd be found if rescuers came to find them after discovering their plane went down. Alan hoped that his dad and brothers would question Alan's failure to arrive at the airfield. He knew he and his family weren't currently seeing eye-to eye, but he hoped that they'd care enough to lead a search for him and Frank.

… … … … … … … … … … …

Unbeknown to the search crew which happened upon the plane wreck several hours later, Alan and Frank continued their decided path several miles from where the search was taking place. They were far enough away that they failed to hear members of the search crew yell their name after it was determined that they had the right plane and not some unreported plane crash. A select crew of people were appointed to hike out with walkie-talkies and search on foot. There were four teams of two that separated and divided the search grid between them.

Tyrone was paired with Jenelle and they walked to the north west. Periodically, one of the team would kneel close to the ground to inspect smudges in the dirt to see if they were foot tracks or scuff marks. The next team was Brady and Sara. They walked north and they like Tyrone and Jenelle closely inspected the ground and surrounding foliage for sign of their two missing persons that may have passed through the area. To the north east was Sean and Debbie, they kept their eyes peeled for signs that Frank and Alan had been through their area. Sean took some time after an echoing call from one of the other teams wasn't replied to and he cupped a hand around his mouth before yelling Alan and Frank's names. When the call didn't yield a response, they continued. Jade and Pete were to the east. It was hard for the groups to look for Alan and Frank, but it made it so much harder to look when it began to rain.

"Great!" Jade said as she grew frustrated. This was the worst time for it to rain, the likelihood of Frank and Alan's scent being washed away becoming more of a reality. "Just great, stupid rain."

… … … … … … … … … … …

Jeff donned a jacket as he walked out the door of his apartment to go rendezvous with the search crews. Jeff and his sons had been asking constantly if they could at least be at the search crew camp, so they would know everything the crew knew. He wasn't surprised to find out that crews were withholding information regarding the plane wreckage being found. He pursed his lips as he slid behind his steering wheel and proceeded to drive to the headquarters put in place to search for survivors of the plane crash.

As Jeff drove, he reflected on the last interaction he had with Alan. It'd been the morning Alan boarded that flight. Jeff tried giving Alan a hug goodbye, and Alan wouldn't let him hug him. He'd backed away from Jeff, muttering a quiet 'don't touch me' before he also issued Scott a cold shoulder and pushed John and Gordon away. At the time, Jeff was frustrated with Alan's childish behavior, but now he was wondering if that might have been the last time he'd ever see Alan again. Pulling onto the shoulder, Jeff ignored the blaring horns of other vehicles that sped by. He knew in his gut that Alan was still alive, but he couldn't stop the little voice in the back of his mind whispering ' _how are you sure?_ ' After shaking the insistent voice in the back of his mind away, Jeff resumed driving.

It'd be a few hours of driving before Jeff would arrive, but he was anxious to get some news. It'd been three days since Jeff had seen Alan off on the flight and he wondered about his youngest child. The last he'd seen Alan had been tumultuous at best and Jeff wanted if nothing more than one more day with his son. He prayed he wasn't killed in the crash, hoped beyond all reasonable thought that his boy had survived. Jeff knew in his heart that Alan was strong, that thought wasn't questioned. But he wondered how Alan fared.

Was he hurt badly? Could he walk? And what about Frank, did he survive? If he did live, how badly was he hurt if at all?

Those thoughts constantly swirled around in Jeff's head and he just wanted to get there so he could see if they'd found Frank and his son, so he could hug them both.

… … … … … … … … … … …

"Watch your step Alan, it's pretty steep." Frank said, following Alan down the hill. The leaves and other plant detritus was slippery, a rain having recently passed overhead. Both were scooting down the hill on their behinds, the wet ground too questionable. Neither of them felt like falling down the hill, Frank especially considering he was injured already.

"You watch yourself too Frank." Alan said, reaching a tree and grappling onto the bark so he could gain his footing. It was not cool traipsing through the forest, getting caught in a chilly rain and having zero shelter.

When they both made it down the embankment, they stood and brushed the seat of their pants which had gotten damp and muddy from scooting down the hill. They had been walking for hours now and when they stopped for a rest, they ate the last of their rations. It consisted of a packet of instant ramen, once more without water.

Alan grimaced as he ate it, swearing off ramen for the rest of his life. The crunchy noodles cut into his gums and made them feel raw. The only thing he wanted currently, more than anything was a big fat cheeseburger, with extra cheese and a large helping of fries with a cup of gravy to dip the fries in. He tried to envision it as he ate the raw noodles, trying to make the best of a tough situation. It made the taste of the noodles a little more bearable.

"Alan, what say we bed down and make camp here? It looks like it's going to rain again, and I'd rather not slip down any embankments." Frank said as he ate his dry ramen also.

"Yeah, that sounds good Frank." Alan said before he finished his dry ramen and stood to see if he could gather wood to build a fire. He happened upon a giant leaf that contained water and Alan wondered briefly if it'd be safe to drink, that was until a bug landed in it then Alan turned away with a sneer. He was so thirsty, hadn't had any water since the day before. When it'd started raining earlier, Alan copied Frank and tilted his head back to catch drops of rain in his mouth. It helped a little bit, but Alan was thirstier than a couple raindrops could quench.

While Alan wandered off into the trees to gather kindling, his thoughts turned to his family. Did they know the plane went down? Did they care? Was there a group of people searching for them currently? Alan wondered where they were. Had tried paying attention to his surroundings while hiking with Frank, but he couldn't pinpoint their location. He wasn't familiar with the terrain nor any of the trees, so he wasn't even 50% sure of where they were. He wished he did.

"How's that firewood coming along Alan?" Frank inquired, breaking Alan from his musings. He picked up the kindling he'd gathered on the forest floor and carried it back to where Frank was.

"I found some, but it's a little damp." Alan said before he dropped the wood beside Frank where he was using a sizable stick to dig a trench to build the fire in. "I know I've asked about a billion times, but do you have any idea where we are?"

"A billion and one times the same question is asked never hurt anybody. And in answer…no. Just before we crashed I lost all function of my dashboard. I have no clue where we are and even if I did, we're surrounded for miles around by wilderness. I don't think anybody is around." Frank said going quiet for a moment as he focused on building the fire. "I suppose all we can hope for is that someone will notice something odd about smoke out here and will come check it out."

Alan didn't like that answer much and he dropped his head down. He wanted Frank and him to be found. Preferably alive, and preferably in one piece.

It was some time later that Frank got the fire started and the two were left to sit by the small fire, staring into its depths and contemplate their situation. Alan grew tired of sitting and he laid on his side, propped onto his elbow as he drew in the dirt with the tip of his finger. He watched the flames dance around in the pit, letting himself be mesmerized. After staring at the flames for several long minutes, Alan began to see his family's features individually. It made Alan think of a time lapse video or a montage like you see in the movies. He was remembering the easier times, before he let his pride get the best of him or before he became so headstrong. He wished now that he could have changed his behavior. His thoughts returned to the day the plane crashed. Was it really three days ago that that occurred?

It started raining again and Alan was left to wonder why things just kept getting worse. It couldn't be the worst thing that their plane crashed, but now they were lost in the wilds of Nowheresville, USA, Frank had a bum arm and they were left without food. If they weren't found soon, Alan didn't know what would become of them. He didn't want to imagine how they'd get by if they remained for months lost in the wilderness. Truthfully, Frank was sure that he could lead him and Alan to safety…but if they should both grow weaker from lack of food or the lack of water – that was a future Alan didn't want to imagine.

Alan and Frank were forced by the moderate rainfall to retire beneath the foil space blanket and they took to laying back to back once more. But as neither were too tired yet, they laid awake and talked. Frank inquired of Alan what led to him being sent to military school and with a distinct lack of subjects to talk about – Alan spilled his guts to Frank.

"You know how my brothers and I inherited the Tracy Need for Speed from dad?" Alan asked, referencing the joked about desire to be fast at everything they did whether that was learning to crawl, walk, run, excelling in sports or academics. "Well, I apparently inherited a double desire for speed."

"By double desire?" Frank inquired, though he couldn't see Alan's facial expressions.

"I stole Scott's new car and took it out for a joyride." Alan admitted.

"Alan, you didn't." Frank said with a sigh and a roll of his eyes.

"I did, and not only did I catch the eye of a cop, but I mixed up the pedals and was arrested for leading a cop on a chase, though it was only a block and with destroying private and public property. The private property being Scott's car after I drove it into a fire hydrant and a mailbox. The public property was a stoplight post that I put a pretty big dent into."

Frank groaned at Alan's stupidity over that one and told Alan as much. "You're lucky you didn't break your neck."

"I know, that's what dad said when Gordon fronted the money to post my bail. I know what I did was stupid now, but I just wanted to go for a ride in Scott's car. When I first took it, I was driving it just fine. I only planned to circle around the block, but when I reached my turn to circle back to the apartment the road was closed so road crews could paint lines on the new asphalt. I had to go the next block up and the light changed after I'd committed to a turn. The officer swore I ran a red light, but I was committed to a turn and had to take it after the light changed to red. Then because I got the accelerator confused with the brakes, the officer swore that I was trying to lead him on a chase. I wasn't, I just got the pedals mixed up."

"And wrecking the car?" Frank inquired softly.

"A total accident. I looked down at my feet to make sure the next pedal I pressed on was the brake and veered off the actual road. I didn't mean any real harm. I just wanted to go for a ride." Alan admitted softly, troubled that it was his own reckless decision that led to him being put on the Cessna that was to fly him as far west as was possible.

"Why didn't you just ask Scott to take you for a ride in the morning?" Frank inquired.

"I didn't think he would. I asked him if he'd take me for a ride after dinner and he said his car wasn't for taking little brothers on drives but was for and I quote 'looking cool for the ladies.' John said Scott gave him a ride in the car to prove a point that Scott was wrong, and Scott said John didn't count as a little brother because they were only a year apart." Alan replied.

"A year difference or not, John is still Scott's little brother and I think that was wrong. I mean you asked kindly, didn't you?" Frank asked before pulling the foil space blanket higher over his head when the rain picked up in intensity

"Yeah, I did, but apparently ten years younger is too young to Scott." Alan said morosely. "Probably thought I'd get little brother cooties all over the inside of his car and scare all the ladies away."

Frank started laughing a great deep belly laugh at that and even Alan had to admit how ridiculous the notion was, and he too joined Frank in laughter. They laughed for several more minutes, each throwing out increasingly ridiculous ideas that would have prompted Scott to refuse to take Alan for a ride in his car. Soon, both Alan and Frank sobered from their laughing and after a few minutes passed between them Alan figured he'd ask a question.

"Hey Frank?" Alan asked feeling like he had to whisper. The hush of the surrounding woods was not expected despite the rain and Alan was loathed to disrupt the solitude by speaking loudly.

"Yes, Alan?" Frank asked as he got comfortable beneath the space blanket. He shifted when he felt a rock digging into the small of his back, but soon he found a comfortable position where he wasn't trying to force rocks to become one with his body.

"If we make it out of here alive, what's one thing you plan to do?" Alan inquired softly.

"Well, I can safely say that we will make it out of this alive…but I think the first thing I'm doing is I'm going to take the vacation I've been promising the missus for the last ten years or so." Frank said before craning his neck just so. "What about you?"

"Be a better son. I know my dad often wonders where he went wrong with raising me, but it's nothing that _he_ did that's made me act like this." Alan said before he started thinking. "I don't know why I do half the stupid things I do, I just…do. Kind of a jump first ask questions later."

"Can I speak freely here for a second?" Frank asked.

"Sure." Alan replied as he moved his arm to pillow his head from the cold, hard ground.

"I don't think your dad really did anything inherently wrong with raising you. He raised you the same as he raised your brothers. I just think he's missing a distinct motherly touch. I mean, think about it. Your mother was there through each of your brother's early formative years except for yours. You on the other hand haven't had that. Your brothers all got something you didn't and, so you went to the next best person to provide motherly care which was your grandma and god bless that woman, because she cared for you when your father couldn't. You were a very well-behaved child, but when your grandma died…that's when I noticed you change." Frank replied before going quiet to let Alan absorb what he'd said.

"But can you figure out why I seem to be the worst child dad has ever raised?" Alan asked.

"I don't think you're the worst child your dad has raised. But with your grandmother's passing, came a side of you that's craving attention no matter good or bad. That's what I think anyway." Frank said before he seemed to get comfortable. "Let's go to sleep, morning will be here before we know it."

"Kay, night." Alan said before he closed his eyes to try to force himself to fall asleep.


	4. Unpleasant Surprise

_**A/N: Another chapter for this little story, coming right up! I must say that if anyone reads these author's notes...you're really going to hate me this chapter. You'll have to read to find out, but be gentle. H/C is what I write best and this came to me when I looked up at an antique hanging in my...house. You'll figure out what the antique is when you read on and maybe you'll question why this object is hanging up in my house. Hint, my dad got it at a yard sale for a nickel before I was born and it's rusted shut. He's into old artifacts, if you ever set foot in my house, you'd think you walked into either an antique shop/art studio or very rustic lifestyle. Again, I love reviews but be mindful that I also accept constructive criticism, nothing insulting or rude please. As you can probably tell from my constant reminders, I've had trouble with trolls insulting my works and I'm a stickler about positivity or meaningful reviews as a result.**_

 _ **Reviews make my day and I love getting them, even if it's a short little message.**_

 _ **Anyway, enough with the author's note! On with the story!**_

* * *

Several miles away, crews combed the foliage in search of the two missing persons. There were spotlights set up and tents, lots of tents. There was a tent marked as the mess hall, another for medic, another for the main search tent. Jeff had just arrived, and he was being shown the tent that the map was set up showing the radius of areas searched and to be searched. He noticed just before going in that it was marked for command central and he couldn't scrounge up the smirk though Alan would have snorted and started laughing at that. Jeff had already been talking with his sons and they were all very much aware of what they'd be calling their main control room when International Rescue was initiated. When Jeff went into the tent, he could hear echoes of people calling for Frank and Alan. He wondered where those two had gotten to.

"Hello, thank you for coming on such short notice." A man stepped around the bulletin board to shake Jeff's hand. "I'm George Carvel, I'm in charge of these operations."

"Hello Mr. Carvel, I'm Jeff Tracy. My son was on the plane with Frank, the pilot." Jeff said giving a tight smile at the man in charge of leading the search for his son and family friend. "So, what do you have?"

"Well, it's not much to go on. We had to put in a call for a k9 search unit. I don't know if both Alan and Frank are light on their feet or what, but there's been barely a scuffle of a foot print and we recently had a decent rain. I'm hoping that their scents may still be present." Mr. Carvel said as he pointed at markers on the ground indicating the latest footprints in the dirt. "I'm not going to lie to you Mr. Tracy, finding Alan and Frank is going to be like searching for a needle in a haystack."

"I'm not going to give up searching for my son, I want him found." Jeff said, the implication dead or alive was left unsaid.

"We'll keep looking until we exhaust every option imaginable. But I don't want you to get your hopes up." Mr. Carvel said before he showed Jeff the map. "We have ground crews searching all of this location here and if we don't find anything, we'll expand the search radius."

"You mean you haven't found anything indicating where Alan and Frank are?" Jeff asked, surprised that nothing had turned up yet.

"Not quite. We found what we believe to be a camp set up by them, but no outward indication it was for certain them. There are still folks camping in these parts and some people, the more adventurous type prefers going off the beaten path to camp in amongst the nature. The camp was at the very least a day or two old."

"Can you show me the camp? If it was them they'd might have built the fire a certain way. I'd know it was them." Jeff asked, hoping he'd be shown the camp. "Frank and I knew each other from our Air Force days. I taught my son how to build a fire and I have my own little tips which I hope he's used."

"Alright, but then I'm going to call in the crews for rotation changes." Mr. Carvel said. With a nod of his head, Mr. Carvel led Jeff out of the tent and they walked a distance to the first camp site. There Mr. Carvel showed Jeff the remains of the fire and Jeff could now see what Mr. Carvel meant when he said they weren't sure. It looked like your average old camp fire.

"Damn." Jeff muttered under his breath. He was disappointed that he couldn't identify the fire pit as Alan or Frank's, but he wouldn't let himself give up hope. A little voice in the back of his mind was whispering that he'd know if Alan perished in the crash or not. "I know you've denied my request before, but might I see the wreckage site?"

"Mr. Tracy, I don't know why you want to see that. The wreck isn't pretty." Mr. Carvel muttered before he heaved a sigh. "But, we might as well since you're here now."

"Thank you, Mr. Carvel." Jeff said as he let Mr. Carvel lead him towards the wreckage.

"Don't thank me yet Mr. Tracy. You might very well be upset with me once you see it." Mr. Carvel said. "We best get to it, there's another storm brewing out there again."

… … … … … … … … … … …

Alan shot up from a sound sleep, jolting Frank when lightning lit up the sky and the thunder rumbled. Their fire was out, and both were freezing. It'd started raining several hours ago and Alan was left to wonder if they'd die from hypothermia before they died of starvation. Frank woke up when they were hit with a blast of cold from a moderate wind that'd gradually gotten stronger. Another bolt of lightning flashed, and thunder rumbled, making Alan bring his hands to his ears and clamp his eyes closed tightly. Frank frowned at Alan's reaction, but he still tried to get Alan's attention on him instead of the storm.

"It's okay Alan. It's just a storm." Frank said reassuringly. He knew the teen despised storms, had known it the kid's whole life. He'd known all of Jeff's sons almost their whole life and wasn't unfamiliar with the boys' kryptonite. Alan's was storms. For as long as Frank could remember, Alan had always feared storms, even when he was a baby. "Lay back son, try to go back to sleep."

Even with Frank trying to soothe him back to sleep, Alan knew all attempts were futile. He'd had trouble falling asleep, eventually slipping off to the previously soft pitter-patter of rain, which was now falling like a waterfall. Frank however managed to fall back to sleep regardless of the storm. Alan's clothes were soaked, and he shivered. Even the heat provided by Frank and the space blanket did nothing to chase the chill. Alan was well and truly awake. He'd stayed awake through the storm and watched as the rain tapered off, clouds clearing up and the morning shining bright with a full sun.

Alan was growing increasingly perturbed with the weather patterns and he was wanting a nice hot shower and comfortable bed with each passing second. Carefully so as not to wake Frank, Alan crawled out from beneath the space blanket and took to walking around in hopes that he might be able to warm up. He was freezing, and his clothes were damp from the rain that leaked beneath the space blanket. Alan rubbed his hands up and down his arms and jogged in place for a few moments until he felt somewhat warm. After trying to warm up, Alan went to sit on a log near Frank. He watched the light wind blow through the trees and he shivered when said light wind blew over him, chilling the damp clothes that felt like they were a second skin.

Frank woke not long after the sun rose, and they wasted no time in standing up, shivering violently as they stood beneath the rays of the sun. It'd take a while for them to warm up. Alan couldn't believe how cold he was especially after already being up and around.

They moved along stiffly as they tried to walk off the cold left behind in their bones from a night spent in the rain. Frank was moving considerably slower, but he tried not to let that slow them down too much.

"So, Frank, how long do you think we'll be out here until we're worm chow?" Alan asked, trying to be funny, but failing miserably.

"We're not going to die out here." Frank said, reassuring Alan that they'd be found. Unbeknownst to them that the further they walked, the further they left the search party behind. Frank's answer however, rubbed Alan the wrong way and he was quick to snap.

"Oh yeah, like you really think they're going to find us? It's been three nights and soon to be four days. If they were searching for us, don't you think they'd have found us by now?" Alan asked, letting his temper get the better of him. He rounded on Frank and narrowed his eyes in annoyance at his father's friend.

"They are searching for us Alan, I know it in my bones that they are. Have some faith son." Frank said trying to get Alan to quit thinking negatively. It's not like they had a genie in a bottle that they could wish to magically reappear amongst civilization. Unfortunately searching for plane crash survivors took time.

"I'll believe it when I see it." Alan said before he turned away from Frank. "I'm going to take a walk."

"Maybe change that attitude of yours while you're off out there, huh?" Frank said before he sat down on a stump and tried to warm up in the sun.

… … … … … … … … … … …

"Change your attitude Alan." The teen sneered to himself as he shook his head. He knew his temper got him in more trouble than was necessary, but it's not like he could control it.

Alan thought back to the way he'd last treated his dad and brothers before they saw him off. He'd given Scott the cold shoulder and Alan now felt guilty over the way he'd acted. He didn't mean to be a pain in the backside to his family, he just…didn't know. He couldn't always control his random outbursts and he knew that his temper was part of what got him here in the first place. He wished not for the first time that he had better control over his temper.

Alan was so preoccupied that he didn't see the embankment until he was rolling end over end until he reached the bottom. When he came to a stop, he looked up and groaned. How was he ever going to get back up there? The embankment had several spots that dropped off to a lower level, but it looked impossible to climb back up.

He laid there for an indeterminable amount of time before he stood up with the intention of trying to find a way back up the embankment. He went to the embankment and tried to climb back up, but the ground was unstable, and he slid back down. He even looked for little saplings and other trees that might support his weight, so he could climb back up, but every time he grabbed a branch it'd snap as soon as he pulled on it. He tried several times before he gave up. It was too high. He'd just have to try to find another way back up.

Walking along, Alan looked at the hillside trying to determine if he could climb back up and he'd tried periodically. When a half hour passed, and he'd had no success, Alan was ready to give up.

"Alan? Where are you?"

Alan heard Frank and it sounded far away, but Alan still called out.

"Frank! I'm down here!" Alan called. He walked along, hearing Frank pick his way through the brush.

Alan paced back and forth like a caged lion as he looked along the rim of the embankment, waiting for Frank to show up.

It came as an incredibly unpleasant surprise when Alan stepped back and suddenly a searing pain was encompassing his every thought. Alan distantly wondered who it was screaming before it occurred to him that he was hearing himself. He frantically looked around, trying to find the source of the pain before his eyes fell on the bear trap clamping down around his whole foot.

The pain was worse than anything he'd ever imagined, and he could barely remember his own name, let alone how he'd fallen prey to a man-made trap.

"Alan! Alan!" Frank's calls were panicked, and Alan knew then that the man had heard his screams. "Where are you?"

Alan was trembling from the pain and he bit his lip hard as he tried to inch forward in hopes of loosening the teeth on the trap, so he could pull his foot free. The grip on the teeth was feeble, slicked with blood and making it difficult for Alan to grip the trap. He pulled it open by a fraction of an inch before the trap slipped from his fingers and snapped down back around Alan's wound, making Alan shriek in pain once more.

"Alan!" Frank leaned over the edge of the embankment at hearing Alan's shriek and he stared down at the young man in sympathy.

Alan fell back into the grass and sucked in several deep breathes as he tried not to cry out or scream any more than he already had. He gripped hard at the ground and the surrounding plant detritus as he tried to find something to squeeze. Finally, he settled on balling his fists at his temples and rolling from side to side as his cries and screams built up in volume once more. His foot was killing him, he hadn't known real pain before experiencing this and he wished he could hit pause and rewind. ' _Make it stop! Please!'_

"Alan! Alan!" Frank called, trying to get the young man's attention on him instead of the pain he was in.

"I want my dad!" Alan cried, unashamed that he was asking for his dad like a young child. It was in that moment that it occurred to him that he was still very much a child and suddenly he didn't feel so embarrassed to be crying out for his dad. "Please, I want my dad!"

"Alan, I'm going to try to get down to you." Frank said, trying to reassure Alan that he wouldn't be alone much longer.

Frank didn't know quite how he was going to get down the embankment to Alan, but that didn't stop him from trying. He picked his way down the hill, holding onto branches of trees and shrubs. When he finally made it to the same level as Alan, he hurried to him before he tried to still Alan. He was still rolling from side to side and Frank was worried Alan would hurt himself more. Once he was close enough to see, Frank could barely suppress his gag reflex at the blood and the state of Alan's foot. He did try to steel his nerves as he prepared to grab the trap and try to free Alan's foot. He only stopped when Alan opened his eyes and realized what Frank was going to attempt.

"No, no, no…please don't, please don't!" Alan sobbed begging Frank not to touch him. He began moving just enough to reach Frank's hands to still them. When Frank saw the blood on Alan's hands however, he averted his gaze from Alan's injury. "Go get help."

Frank struggled to control his gag reflex before he turned back to Alan to argue the point.

"No Alan, I promised your dad that I'd keep you safe and leaving you behind to search for help isn't upholding my promise to your father." Frank said as he moved up along Alan's side, so he could talk directly to Alan. "You need to let me help you. WE are going to hike out of here to find help. Together."

"I can't walk Frank…how in the hell do you expect me to walk?" Alan inquired sharply. He didn't mean to be rude this time however, he was simply upset that now he was hurt and a burden on Frank when it came to try to hike out for help. "Besides you've got use of only one arm…how are you going to free me?"

"Just trust me. Allow me to free your foot and we'll go from there." Frank said though he knew he could barely stomach blood being on his hands, let alone gripping the trap that had injured Alan so. Alan was right also, with an injured arm himself; it'd be hard to release Alan from the bear trap, but he wasn't going to abandon Alan. "We both need to go for help, if I leave you here I am not only breaking my promise to your father, but I'm leaving you to be a sitting duck to any predator that comes along. If you stay, I stay. If I go, you go too."

Alan swallowed deeply as he thought about his options. He knew from listening to Virgil study to acquire his license to perform medicine that infection could fast set in without medical treatment. He didn't want to die here in the woods and he didn't feel like becoming food to any meat-eating creatures. Biting his lip, Alan nodded at Frank.

"Here, I don't want you to bite your lip or grit your teeth." Frank singlehandedly unbuckled his belt and pulled it through the loops before giving it to Alan to bite on.

"I'm giving you fair warning, if I yell…just ignore it. I don't want to die here." Alan said while panting through the pain. He bit down on the belt in preparation for having his foot messed with. He couldn't bear to watch Frank, so he laid back and covered his eyes with the heels of his hands; uncaring that his hands were covered in his blood.

Frank on the other hand flexed both of his hands and prepared himself to open the trap. Fitting his fingers between the teeth of the trap, Frank used all his strength to separate the jaws of the bear trap. Meanwhile Alan shrieked loudly when the teeth of the bear trap released his foot. Drawing his foot up once the pressure was released, Alan rolled to his side. Both Alan and Frank heard the ' _clank_ ' of the jaws closing when Frank let go of the trap and it hit them like a ton of bricks. Where would they go from here?

Frank gave them both some time to recover from the trauma of Alan's foot getting caught in a bear trap before he prompted Alan to get up. Alan floundered on the ground, unable to get his foot under him enough to bear weight. With Frank's help however, Alan was soon up on at least one foot and was propping against Frank's good side as they began trying to hike out. Alan 's foot was useless though and he let his foot drag. He couldn't tolerate any weight being put on his injured foot, so every step was painful and had Alan whimpering with every step. They had to stop and take frequent breaks because Alan's pain tolerance would falter, making Alan want to cry.

"Come on Alan, let's go." Frank said as he tried to get Alan up once more. Alan was in so much pain that he was close to hyperventilating.

"I can't Frank, it hurts!" Alan grunted as he glimpsed his foot. He was thankful that his pantleg was covering his wound as he didn't think he could stomach the gruesome wound.

"Just try Alan." Frank said as he offered Alan his hand to pull himself up. Alan groaned in pain before he did just that and stood to continue walking out with Frank. It wasn't what he wanted to do, but it's what would hopefully get them out of here and back to the relative safety of home. "Come on, the sooner we make it out of here the sooner we can get you help."

"You need help too Frank." Alan said as he wobbled on one foot while he let Frank come up beside him. When Frank was ready, he pulled Alan's arm over his shoulder and they set out on yet another painstaking journey. Alan swore he'd be on his best behavior if he ever made it back to his family. He appreciated Frank insisting on helping him, but he also kind of wished Frank would give him longer to rest. It's not like he was asking for much, it's just he was in so much pain and each step made the throbbing in his foot so much worse.

"I know I need help too, but I'm not the one with an open wound that could get infected. We need to get you help before you get sick." Frank said as he glanced down at Alan's blood-soaked pantleg. He didn't want to let Jeff down, but it was getting to be more of an emergency the longer he and Alan stayed lost in the forest. "I know you want to stop and rest, but we need to go so we can get help. Just stay with me."

"Okay Frank." Alan said as he limped after Frank. He was tired, wished he could just stop and sleep. But that wasn't an option for them. Frank was right, Alan did have an open wound and if he were to get sick, things could get a lot worse. It's not like they could just run to the closest pharmacy and get a bottle of rubbing alcohol or something to make sure Alan didn't get an infection. They were lost in the woods for god's sake.

They did still stop periodically when Alan begged, but otherwise Frank kept them walking. He was determined that they get rescued and while Alan appreciated the enthusiasm he was also growing tired of Frank's prodding. Okay, it was hard for Alan to walk when he felt like his foot had its own separate heartbeat and he was wanting the pain to stop. He was sure that Frank wanted to stop at times also, but he didn't really make it clear if he really wanted to stop or not. Alan thought he might have wanted to stop but was just pushing on because he felt like he needed to keep going for Alan. But Alan wouldn't mind just stopping. He really did want to get back home, but he also just wanted to sleep. That was all.

… … … … … … … … … … …

Virgil sat in his bedroom, recollecting the last thing Alan had ever said to him before he was put on that flight.

 _'I hate you all…'_

Again, that four-word sentence was floating around in Virgil's head and it wouldn't leave him alone. It'd stolen his appetite, had sent his muse for anything musical or artistic packing and just in general wouldn't leave him alone.

"A penny for your thoughts?" Virgil was startled from his thoughts by the knock on his bedroom door and he turned to see John leaning against the doorframe.

"What's going on John?" Virgil asked, even as he took to chewing on his thumbnail out of anxiousness.

"You're worrying Scott and Gordy, that's what." John said as he walked in and sat at the foot of Virgil's bed. "What's going on in that head of yours?"

"I'm worried John. I can't help but think that Alan's in trouble and I don't just mean that the plane he was on, that I put him on crashed. I mean, I have a bad feeling in the pit of my stomach and I just know that Alan's in trouble." Virgil said as he switched his left hand for his right and resumed chewing on the opposite thumbnail.

"Virge, there isn't anything you can do that will help Alan be found sooner. Alright? Now I know you're worried, but you won't do anyone any good by giving yourself an ulcer. So, why don't you come out here and have some pizza and watch Star Wars with us?" John said as he reached up and took Virgil's hand in his to prevent him from chewing his fingernails down to nubs.

"Fine." Virgil said, though he was incredibly displeased.

… … … … … … … … … … …

Alan braced his hands against the tree at his back. Frank had again stopped to inspect Alan's wound and he'd given Alan his belt to bite down on once more. The teen didn't enjoy chewing Frank's belt up, so he looked for the bite mark and bit down there again. He greatly appreciated Frank letting him bite down on his belt, he didn't want to imagine his father breathing fire over more dental repair bills.

"Almost done Alan." Frank murmured as he inspected Alan's ankle. It was the most he could inspect at present; the rest of the wound was around the sides of his foot which unfortunately was still contained within a shoe. He shifted Alan's sock only a fraction of an inch and Alan was screaming against the leather belt while he bit down harder. His bangs were plastered to his forehead and Frank knew Alan was sweating bullets simply from the pain alone. He checked him frequently and Alan hadn't begun running a fever, so Frank hoped that was a good thing. "I'm sorry Alan."

Alan shook his head as if to say to Frank _not your fault,_ but Frank felt like it _was_ his fault. He'd made Alan upset and Alan got hurt because of their argument.

When Frank finished looking over Alan's wound, he put Alan's pant leg back and he gently took his belt back from Alan to loop back into his belt loops. "Let's take a bit of a rest before we keep going."

"Whatever you say Frank." Alan replied, giving up to the fact that Frank was the adult and he was the one to call the shots even if Alan didn't like them.


	5. Help Is On The Way

_**A/N: Just a heads up, probably in the next day or two, I'll be posting an update on Rising From The Ashes and A Walk To Remember if any of you are following those stories. Also, loving the reviews and I'm super excited that folks seem to be enjoying this story. I was a little unsure about this next chapter, I kept altering it up until last night as a matter of fact so please keep in mind that all errors in grammar and spelling are mine, but I did try to proofread and spellcheck my work before posting.**_

 _ **Also, reminder - I love reviews but if you don't like my stories then don't read. I don't approve of reviews which insult or belittle authors for their writing style. If you have a problem with my writing, please leave a review in the form of a constructive criticism. Thanks! Now I'm off to bed, I had to be up early for court this morning and I'm a sleepy gal.**_

 _ **On with this story!**_

* * *

Lizzie and her search partner Rodney walked together through the thick underbrush, searching for footprints or other signs that the missing minor and pilot had come this way. The walkie talkie that Rodney had crackled to life to let them know that it was time to rotate shifts and to mark where they'd been searching. Rodney had only just keyed the mic to reply when they heard a scream far off in the distance. They both paused to look at each other before Rodney replied to hold off on the shift change.

"We just heard something, might want to hold on the rotation. Sounds like someone is screaming." Rodney said before he and Lizzie called out Alan and Frank's name already pausing to listen for them. It was silent for several long moments before an echoing scream carried on the wind reached their ears. Lizzie and Rodney once again looked at each other before Rodney got back on the radio. "Lizzie and I just heard another scream, sounds like someone is hurt out here. Can we get a k-9 unit?"

"Roger that."

Lizzie looked at Rodney and they both began to walk in the direction they thought they heard the screams come from. They were soon joined by the k-9 unit and a few others who had their search location redirected.

"I seriously hope those screams didn't come from either Alan or Frank, but I also do hope they belong to them." Rodney said under his breath after their search team had increased in numbers.

"I'm with you there, but I want them found preferably alive." Lizzie replied as she stopped to take a drink from her water bottle. "I think we should go this way."

"Let's wait for the k-9 unit to get here, we don't want the scent to be decimated because we became overeager." Rodney said, seeing the k-9 unit and handler in the distance. The dog looked like he'd stopped to sniff something and look back at his handler.

"We've got something!" The k-9 handler said when the dog indicated he'd picked up the scent of either Alan or Frank.

… … … … … … … … … … …

Alan walked with Frank at a slow hobble, glad for the support offered by the older gentleman. He couldn't tolerate putting his foot on the ground and he bit his lip as he and Frank walked simultaneously. Every time he looked down he couldn't help but to see the blood trail he was leaving, it wasn't a lot of blood, but it was enough that it could be seen at a distance.

"I swear to god, I'm never going hiking again." Alan said, feeling more and more sorry for himself. He knew he wasn't directly at fault for stepping into the trap (how could he have known it was there, it was obscured by fallen leaves) but he was at fault for being on the plane. He was the one that had disregarded his brother, directly disobeyed his father and landed his butt on the plane.

"Remind me never to fly across the country without frequent stops." Frank said before coming to a stop and letting Alan down to sit on a fallen tree. "Let's look at your foot. Been a little over an hour since we looked last."

Alan bit his lip hard as he let Frank pull up his pantleg. They couldn't see much though, Alan's tennis shoe was still on, that wasn't helping Alan out though. His foot was swelling already, and Frank was loathed to take off Alan's shoe. He didn't know how much that shoe was offering protection to his injury.

"I'll be gentle, but don't stay quiet on my account. If I hurt you, make noise." Frank said as he took Alan's foot in hand to inspect it. He felt the skin around the injury and Alan yelled when his foot was touched. "It's hot. We'll need to keep an eye on it."

"Kay." Alan said, trying in earnest to not let the tears that gathered in his eyes fall.

"Let's get moving here in a few minutes, I want to try to get out of here and try to find help." Frank said before he replaced Alan's pantleg back in place. Together they stood, and Frank pulled Alan's arm over his shoulders to brace Alan. They continued well into the night before Alan required rest. They didn't have pain pills with them, Frank had taken them all prior to Alan's injury. Alan was panting, sweat was coating his face and arms and he had a pinched look about his face. Frank wondered how much longer they would be stuck out here before they found someone that could call for help.

"Frank, please…I need to stop." Alan said, pulling his arm from over Frank's shoulder and grasping a tree for support.

"I know you're tired Alan, but we need to keep going." Frank said before started crying.

"I can't do this anymore. I just want to stop, please!" Alan plopped down on the wet ground, unable to continue walking. Turning a teary gaze to Frank, Alan whispered. "Please, please…just let me stop and rest. Please."

Frank could see the anguish on Alan's face and he went to sit by the teen. Alan leaned into Frank when the older male embraced him and he started crying in earnest. Frank did his best to quiet the teen who had started to sob, offering what little comfort he could.

"I just want to go home Frank, I just want to go home." Alan's voice broke as he pulled away to look at Frank with eyes overflowing with tears. Frank opened his mouth to reply when suddenly their surroundings lit up around them which was soon followed by a booming clap of thunder. Alan's hands flew up to cover his ears and he closed his eyes tight with a cry. Frank tried his best to get the teen to relax but with the storm moving in, he had to call this a loss and convince Alan to lie down. They might as well stay close to the ground, there'd be no point in making themselves targets to the lightening.

"Come on son, calm down before you make yourself sick." Frank said as he laid down on his side, bringing Alan into the shelter of his arms and held the miserable teenager to him. "We're going to be rescued, just you wait and see. You're going to see your daddy and brothers again soon. Just hang in there."

As if to mock him, the forest was lit up brightly with lightening and thunder rumbled loudly overhead. Frank directed his gaze up to the sky as if daring the weather and fate to challenge him.

… … … … … … … … … … …

Mr. Carvel suggested to Jeff a few hours prior that he go to the lodge down the road to get some sleep. Jeff had argued briefly because that was his son out there, but Mr. Carvel soon pointed out that Jeff was of no help to Alan if he was too tired to stand on his own two feet. The older man convinced Jeff to go get some sleep, promising to call as soon as he had some news on Alan.

Regrettably Jeff went to go get a room and he sank onto the bed in his room tiredly. He glanced at his cell phone, seeing now that he had several missed calls and text messages. But he was so tired. He set his cell phone on the table beside his bed and sighed. He felt like he hadn't slept in several days, which in truth was true. Since the night before Alan left Jeff hadn't slept well. He was burdened by the thoughts that he was doing the wrong thing and questioning his decisions. He kept wondering if he was failing Alan by sending him to military school.

Stifling a yawn, Jeff stripped off his t-shirt and jeans before he climbed into bed. He reached out to flip the switch and soon his room was enveloped in darkness. He rolled onto his side and said a quiet prayer for Alan and Frank before he closed his eyes and tried to sleep. He was asleep as soon as he closed his eyes.

His sleep however, was anything but restful. His dreams were dark, and tumultuous. He dreamt that he and Alan were arguing once more and his dreams were invaded by his decision to enroll Alan in military school. The look of Alan's face when he learned that his dad had taken the vote and determined that military school was the best decision regarding not only Alan's education but his irresponsibility.

Soon, Jeff's dream was entwined with the day that Alan was taken to the airfield. Virgil had come home, sullen and unlike his regular self which had been noticeable for all the present members of the family. The dream Virgil slamming his bedroom door was loud, reminiscent to thunder and he woke with a start. Sitting up in bed, Jeff turned his gaze out the inn window and noticed the distant rumble of thunder and the flash of lightning. Laying back down, Jeff tried to ignore the storm outside. It thankfully wasn't raining, but Jeff knew that if Alan was in any kind of condition to recognize the rumblings of a storm, he'd be a sniveling cowering mess.

It'd always been a bit of an inside joke that Alan was afraid of storms considering he was a storm personified on a good day. On a bad day, he could be described as a hurricane. Tugging his blankets up over his head, Jeff tried to drown out the continuing rumbles of the storm outside. He worried about Alan, already he'd been lost in the wilderness for several days and nights and had to try to get by in the poor weather that's been battering the area. He didn't expect Alan would be fit as a fiddle when…if he was found. Stopping himself in his tracks, Jeff shamed himself for thinking there'd be anything besides a _when_ Alan was found. Jeff was expecting Alan to be laid up in bed with a cold and fever after being found, hoping for a simple cold was all he could ask for.

… … … … … … … … … … …

"Let's face it, the noise we heard was a fluke." Rodney was tired. He and Lizzie had stayed out an extended hour and a half and were both exhausted. They decided it'd be for the best if they returned to base to get a few hours rest before they resumed where they left off. Night was close to falling and it was going to be too dangerous to have multiple crews out wandering around in the dark. The k-9 unit had seemed to lose the scent he'd caught onto and everyone had grown disheartened. That was until somebody off in the distance called out that they'd found something and then it'd revived the fire to keep searching regardless of the impending dark.

Everybody congregated in the area where a searcher had called from and there they'd found an area of disturbed ground. The plant detritus had been stirred up and from the looks of it, something or someone had gone down the embankment. One brave soul volunteered to make their way down the embankment to search for clues and when they'd gone down it was a growl of anger and some choice words that answered them back.

"What'd you find Justin?" Rodney asked before something steel and bulky came flying up from the darkness, forcing the people searching to part like the Red Sea. What landed in front of everyone was enough to make the urge to find the two missing plane passengers even more urgent. What landed on the ground was a bear trap that had been activated and was coated with blood…recently too recently. "Damn it!"

"Rodney, there's no telling that it was either of the passengers that were the unfortunate party on the business end of the bear trap." Lizzie said, hoping the blood coating the bear trap was anything but human.

"I don't see any animals hobbling around, nor do I see any fresh drag marks…it has to be human and they need us to find them before infection sets in." Rodney said, before he picked up the bear trap by the chain that had been used to anchor the trap to the ground and he held it up in front of the k-9 unit. "Do you smell something boy?"

The dog sniffed exuberantly before he put his nose to the ground and took off at a trot following the scent that had been left behind. The k-9 handler took the k-9 off his leash and the dog was immediately on the hunt. Everyone gathered stayed a fair distance from the dog, but they followed as close as they dared to while the dog zig-zagged back and forth through the forest.

The k-9 used to search for Alan and Frank was a bloodhound. The dog closed his eyes as he sniffed the bear trap. He didn't hear the command from his handler, simply let his nose lead him. He picked up a scent, began walking in circles as he sniffed the ground. Everyone searching for Alan and Frank paused as they watched the dog. He sniffed for a few more moments before throwing back his head and baying loudly.

The volume at which he bayed made everyone jump. The dog took off at a jaunt, the baying continuing to echo through the night.

"He's got the scent, come on. Let's go!" Rodney said as everyone set off on foot after the k-9.

The deeper into the woods they went, the more energetic the bloodhound's baying became. He didn't always make noise, but every time he lost the scent or needed to check again for scent he'd go quiet as if in deep concentration. When the bloodhound stopped again to sniff, searchers took the opportunity to call Alan and Frank's names.

… … … … … … … … … … …

Frank stayed up to keep an eye on Alan after they'd settled down for the night. The teenager was bad off in Frank's opinion. He'd grown weaker as the hours ticked by, not exactly from blood loss but from a combination of pain, blood loss, shock, exhaustion, hunger and dehydration. They'd walked as best as they could, even continuing onwards in the dark. They'd stopped when Alan had started crying and had begged to stop about an hour ago. He'd fallen into a fitful sleep after the storm passed and had developed a fever. Frank was keeping an eye on Alan to the best of his ability, but he was wondering what he'd have to do to get help to come to them. Because at this rate, Alan wouldn't last long before infection set in. It may have been five hours since Alan had gotten hurt but even Frank knew that infection could set in and give the kid hell much faster than should be feasible.

"I'm so sorry kid." Frank whispered as he used the palm of his hand to wipe the building sweat from Alan's forehead. "Hang on for me."

Frank was alone with his thoughts for another hour and a half before he heard people off in the distance. He questioned if his ears were playing tricks on him when he would swear on his mother's grave that he heard his and Alan's names being carried on the wind. He remained silent for a little bit before he heard it again soon followed by what he thought was a strange guttural howl and he refused to stay quiet regardless of Alan sleeping right next to him. He stood up and cupped a hand over his mouth before he yelled out to catch the attention of his and Alan's believed to be rescuers.

"Hello! Can you hear me?" Frank yelled, waiting for a reply anxiously. "Hello!"

… … … … … … … … … … …

The group of rescuers called for Alan and Frank intermittently, going silent immediately after shouting their names to see if they could hear a reply.

They'd steadily been going along with the search dog but hadn't found anything beyond a little bit of blood dripping onto the forest floor and that bear trap. Zachary, one of the relief searchers paused for a moment before he called for the group to be quiet. Everyone went silent and not even the wind blew. It was as if the forest wanted the plane wreck survivors to be found as well. Zachary stayed silent before one of his group hissed a question to which Zachary shushed the group. He had his eyes closed tight and his head cocked to the side, like he was hearing something that nobody else could.

Zachary cupped a hand over his mouth to amplify his voice as he called out.

"I can hear you! Where are you?" Zachary went silent and held his hand up, so his group would remain quiet.

The dog didn't heed the request, continuing to sniff the ground avidly before baying and taking off again as he picked up the scent.

"Tucker, shut up!" Zachary hissed as he tried to listen for an answer to his earlier question. When the dog moved off to sniff some more, Zachary took that opportunity to repeat his earlier question. "Where are you?"

… … … … … … … … … … …

Frank felt his heart jump for joy as he heard a faraway voice call back to him. He shook Alan to try to get him to wake up, but the kid was deeply entrenched in his sleep. Frank stood still as he looked around. He swiveled on his heel as he looked to the four corners of the world, in hopes that he might see a light off in the distance. When he heard a voice again followed by another gravelly howl, he couldn't contain his excitement. He eagerly yelled back in hopes that whoever he was communicating with knew they needed help.

"Help! Help us!" Frank yelled hoping his message was understood. He thought his heart would beat right out of his chest. "Help us!"

… … … … … … … … … … …

Zachary and the group sucked in a breath when they heard the message on the wind. _Help us._ Simple as that. This wasn't the rescue of just one person, it was for two or more people. And they were searching for two people.

Zachary cupped his hand around his mouth to reply once more.

"Help is on the way! Stay where you are!"

The group waited a second before they headed in the direction the dog was leading them. They walked several long minutes before they'd stop, and Zachary would call out for Alan and Frank. It was impossible to feel downhearted. They were close to finding somebody. Hopefully it was the party of two they'd been searching for. They spread out as a group but stayed together as a united force.

… … … … … … … … … … …

Frank glanced down at Alan worriedly when despite his hollering, he failed to awaken. He'd taken to panting as if he were caught in a nightmare. The sweat was gathering faster than Frank could clear away and Frank would swear Alan's temperature had climbed quickly.

"Come on kid." Frank said before hollering a reply at whomever was calling their names. Frank waited a few more minutes before he shook Alan gently once more to wake the kid and grew more concerned when Alan woke up. Alan's eyes were glazed over with fever and it was obvious the kid had seen better days. "Help is on the way kiddo. You're gonna see your daddy and brothers soon."

"Daa-" Alan slurred before his head lolled to the side. He was getting worse. Frank worried that Alan would get too sick soon to walk and Frank didn't think he could carry Alan on his back with his bum arm. Hopefully the people yelling his and Alan's names would be the right people and would be able to help them. He knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that people were probably looking for them, like he said to Alan previously; he knew in his bones that there was a search party out there looking for him and Alan

"Yeah kiddo, your daddy will be wanting to see you. He's probably worried sick." Frank said before he helped Alan to sit up against him. "Just stay with me kiddo."

"Try…" Alan mumbled. He had a hard time keeping his head up and Frank pulled Alan against him once more so that Alan could lean back against him.

"That's all I'm asking of you kiddo." Frank murmured as he smoothed Alan's bangs back from his forehead.

… … … … … … … … … … …

Zachary and the group felt the hope renew in their bleak situation as the voice of the person answering them grew louder the closer they got. The k-9 ran ahead and bayed excitedly as he picked up a fresh scent. The group hollered as they walked, wanting to find the two or more individuals lost in the wilderness now more than ever.

The fact that they had a bloodied bear trap with them that may have injured one of those lost out here in the wild didn't make them relax any. If nothing else, it made things more complicated and at the same time direr. None of them searching for Frank and Alan could imagine how their families must be feeling.

"Where are you?" Zachary called, hearing an immediate reply.

 _"Here!"_

… … … … … … … … … … …

Frank grew excited as he heard the inquiring voices get gradually closer with every minute. His heart began to race, and he jostled Alan once more in his excitement. Alan had passed out after he'd moved his foot and it'd made him practically delirious with pain. The kid was leaned against Frank's chest and was completely out.

"Here!" Frank yelled before flashlight beams managed to cut through the darkness and burned his retinas. He wasn't upset with the lights being too bright. In fact, he was happier being blinded by the bright flashlights as opposed to remaining in the forest another night.

Waving his arms wildly over his head, Frank flagged down the individuals that were toting the flashlights.

"We're here! We're here!" Frank felt tears prick his eyes simply because the flashlight beams were one of the most beautiful things he'd seen in the longest time. It was a tie for first place between the first time he'd laid eyes on his wife and these multitudes of flashlight beams cutting through the night. He didn't lose his composure until the search dog with the group bounded up to him and bayed excitedly. Frank grabbed the dog and began sobbing into its fur. He was relieved that they'd been found, four…almost five days after they'd gone missing.

"Sir, sir." Rodney said as he grabbed the dog by the collar and tried to pull the animal from the man's grasp. Frank tightened his hold on the dog, afraid that this was all just some dream he'd made up. He told himself that as long as he could feel the warmth and course fur of the k-9, this had to be real.

"Let him hug the dog." Lizzie scolded. She knelt beside Frank and Alan before she shone the flashlight on Alan to assess his condition. Her face paled when she looked at Alan and took in how pale he was, one glimpse was all it took for her to know that they'd found their bear trap victim as well. "Zachary, I need your help."

"He's hurt." Frank wept into the dog's fur. He looked up from the dog's fur to look at Lizzie while she looked at Alan. "He got his foot caught in a bear trap."

"We found the trap, we just weren't sure who got caught." Rodney said before he turned to help Lizzie and Zachary with Alan. He held up his walkie talkie before he keyed it up. "We found them sir, requesting a chopper."

Rodney reached into his pack and pulled out a lantern. He turned it on and set it in front of Alan and Frank before kneeling beside Lizzie. The two of them dug through the medic kit to find the materials they'd need to help Alan. Frank continued petting the dog while splitting his attention on Alan as well. They might have been found by rescuers in red jackets, but Alan was still his responsibility until he was back with his father and brothers.

"Are they okay?" Mr. Carvel asked over the walkie-talkie.

"The minor we were searching for needs immediate medical attention, the pilot told us he stepped into a bear trap." Rodney said before he returned to helping Lizzie care for Alan.

Frank remained sitting with his back against the log, the bloodhound still in his arms. He wanted to pinch himself, thinking this whole rescue was a figment of his imagination. The dog, Tucker remained in Frank's arms, panting and drooling happily. His tail was wagging and he leaned down to sniff Frank's hands, who just realized belatedly that he still had some of Alan's blood on his hands. He made it a point not to look at his hands, returning his attention to Alan.

The youngster kept looking around, delirious with fever and pain. Frank knew the teen wasn't aware of anything. He'd only briefly woken up just after search and rescue arrived.

"Alan, Alan, can you rate your pain for me?" Rodney inquired as he leaned into Alan's field of vision. Alan wasn't capable of speaking at the moment and within seconds, Rodney watched Alan's eyes cross before he passed out once more. With Alan's passing out again, Rodney rubbed his knuckles against Alan's sternum to rouse the teen enough that he might be able to speak. Alan's eyes peeked open with him groaning in discomfort. "Hey, kiddo. Eyes on me. Can you rate your pain for me?"

"Whaa-…" Alan moaned as he met Rodney's eyes. "Dad."

"He's not making any sense." Rodney said as he looked up at Frank and Lizzie. "When did he begin to not make sense?"

"Couple hours ago…he started running a fever and has been mumbling and slurring in his sleep and when he wakes up." Frank said as he let Lizzie take a look at his shoulder.

"I'm afraid of infection setting in. That bear trap was a rusted mess covered in who knows what and I'm afraid it's made Alan ill." Rodney said before looking to Zachary who was opening his backpack to retrieve a soft sling for Lizzie to support Frank's arm. "Hey, Zach, can you bring me the thermometer? I need to see how hot he's running."

"Sure." Zachary said as he stood to hand Rodney the thermometer. He walked over to Lizzie and took to helping her in securing the sling and fitting Frank's arm in it. Rodney focused on taking Alan's pulse and listening to his breathing and heart while he let the thermometer take the time to record Alan's temperature.

When the thermometer beeped, Rodney pulled the device from beneath Alan's tongue and he sucked in a sharp breath at what the thermometer read. He kept his findings to himself so as not to stir up Frank who had only just begun to allow Lizzie and Zach to help him. He knew though that Alan was in dire need of medical attention and he hoped the chopper came about quickly.

… … … … … … … … … … …

Back in Massachusetts, Scott stood out on the balcony of the penthouse. He was looking down at the pack of cigarettes in his hand, thinking back to one of the many arguments between Alan and him. Alan hated that his oldest brother had taken up smoking while in the Air Force and he was forever begging Scott to give up the smokes. He'd just bought them and had only smoked half of one cigarette before he'd stubbed it out.

Alan's voice was echoing in his head and it made Scott feel like such a heel.

' _I wish you'd just quit smoking. That's why you're not having any luck picking up chicks. It's not little brother cooties.'_

Of course, the argument that Scott had with Alan just prior to Alan taking Scott's car and wrecking it. Scott had refused to let Alan have a ride in his new car, claiming that having little brother cooties would act as repellant to any and all female passengers ever to grace the inside of Scott's car with their presence. Of course, Scott didn't actually believe in little brother cooties, had only made them up as a snub to Alan seeing as he was the baby brother.

"Hey, what are you doing out here? Bit late for you to have a smoke?" Virgil asked as he opened the sliding glass door and joined Scott on the balcony. Scott was the only brother to pick up the habit so far and Virgil didn't really mind the smell of smoke. "So?"

"I was just thinking back to mine and Alan's argument, the last one before he went to California. You remember it don't you?"

Virgil looked at his older brother and he nodded. He remembered that argument, it was quite a doozy. "Yeah, but what's done is done."

"No, it's not done yet. I've been giving it some thought and aside from the car issue, it's not done." Scott said before he tapped the pack of cigarettes on the banister.

"What do you mean?" Virgil asked. He was confused, but he hoped Scott could shed some light on what he meant.

"One of the only things that seems to create tension between me and Alan anymore is the fact that I've taken up smoking. He hates that I picked up the habit and I know its because it makes him think of grandma." Scott said, feeling like he needed to do Alan a solid while he could because this crash has proven to Scott that life could end…at the snap of a finger. If Alan was in fact still alive.

"What do you have in mind?" Virgil asked, unsure of his older brother's intentions.

"It may not seem like much but…I'm making this promise. If Alan is found, alive…I'll kick the habit." Scott said as he looked down at the pack of cigarettes in his hand once more. "No wait…actually."

Virgil watched as Scott stood up straight, drawing his arm back and throwing his pack of cigarettes with all his strength. Virgil watched as the cigarettes sailed through the air and landing of all places across the street in the open dumpster. Virgil didn't know Scott intended to throw his pack of cigarettes there, but what's done was done and he was proud of his brother.

"I won't…won't pick up another cigarette if Alan is found." Scott said, hoping that this was a good enough exchange for getting Alan back. He was unaware however that several hours away, Alan and Frank were being prepared for transport.


	6. Forgive Me

_**A/N: Wow, this last week went by fast. I had a hard time believing that today was update day, I am loving the reviews and look forward to hearing how much folks are loving this story. Hope you don't hate me too much for the bear trap chapter, I had to put on my thinking cap to think of something else that has never been done before and am currently thinking of other stories to write. My mind is always cooking up something, so we'll see.**_

 _ **Thanks!**_

 _ **Sad-Blue-Eyed-Angel 2010**_

* * *

It was with trepidation that Mr. Carvel called the lodge that he'd told Jeff to go three miles down the road to. He was on hold with the front desk while he waited to be transferred to Jeff's room. He'd gotten the call that Alan and Frank had been found and he was preparing to send the chopper that had been on hold for their search efforts. He wanted to know if Jeff wanted to ride along so he could be reunited with his son or if he'd rather be taken first class in the search and rescue suburban and drive with full police escort to the hospital where Alan and Frank would be taken.

It came as a surprise when the phone was answered, and Jeff's voice appeared to be hesitant to ask questions as well as groggy. So, it was with great relief and honest to god joy that he could deliver wonderful news.

"We found them Mr. Tracy. We found them and will be transporting them to the hospital shortly." Mr. Carvel said, hearing the gasp of shock and the laugh of joy that Mr. Tracy's youngest child was found.

"Is my boy okay? Is he hurt?" Jeff asked from his end, standing suddenly before sinking onto the bed as he stared on in awe.

"He was hurt, and he will need to go to the hospital. That's why I was calling, I was wondering if you wanted to get over here and take a ride in our rescue chopper to go pick up your son and fly with him to the hospital or if you'd rather catch a lift with me and I'll take you to the hospital myself?" Mr. Carvel asked hoping Jeff took one of the two options over driving himself.

"I can ride in the helicopter? Isn't there less room if I go?" Jeff asked apprehensively.

"Normally I wouldn't offer such an opportunity but seeing as you've barely backed down for inquiring about your son while we searched for him I figured I would offer you this chance. However, if you'd rather not, I can take you to the hospital myself with police escort, so we get there in a reasonable amount of time. The decision is yours. But it's going to need to be made swiftly, I will be sending our rescue copter out within the next few minutes." Mr. Carvel said while looking at his watch. "If you decide against riding in the helicopter, let me know now and I'll come pick you up."

"Just send them the copter, I'm afraid I'd only make things difficult for the flight medics to tend to Alan and Frank." Jeff said, fully aware that he was sacrificing a few extra minutes with Alan before he'd be separated so Alan could receive medical treatment…but he was more than willing to let Alan get care and time to try to rest before he had medical professionals in his business.

… … … … … … … … … … …

Alan was well and truly out of it when the helicopter arrived at the location where Frank and Alan stopped for the night. Unfortunately, they'd been nestled among trees, so the helicopter had to hover overhead, and they'd had to dispatch a rescue basket. Alan was sent up first and he'd been settled onto his gurney by the time Frank came up.

Once the two of them were settled, the helicopter took off – flying swiftly through the night sky. Anyone standing outside would hear the repetitive _whump, whump, whump_ of the copter blades and they'd see an alternating red and green light blinking. Inside the helicopter however was another story. Alan had fallen unconscious and Frank kept looking over at the kid that'd been in his care since his brother had entrusted him in his care…and Frank had let the entire family down. He'd just checked over the plane an hour before their flight was due to commence and he'd found absolutely nothing wrong with it. There was nothing indicating that they would encounter an issue and nothing especially that would specify that their plane was about to crash.

Frank had watched the medics as they'd inspected Alan. He'd observed them taking Alan's temperature, his blood pressure as well as gingerly looking over his injured foot. Once he was under the different lighting, Frank felt his stomach sink like a stone had settled there as he glimpsed at Alan's foot. The boy had been wearing the wrong clothes for hiking. He'd been wearing sneakers; his jeans were okay but not Frank's choice of hiking apparel. The blood had soaked into Alan's jeans and that wasn't all the damage done. When Alan had accidently walked into the trap, those steel teeth had torn into his jeans. The flight medics had carefully cut slits up Alan's pant leg to his knee, so they could tend to Alan's wound.

What Frank could see of Alan's wound was nightmare inducing. Besides Alan's leg being a pale white, the blood had contrasted greatly. That's not to mention the area where the trap bit into Alan's skin. That was bruised horrifically as well as swollen and a very angry deep reddish purple. Frank had no doubts that Alan's foot was probably the same color as well beneath his sock. He could hear the medics muttering about infection setting in and gangrene if they weren't careful and he'd also heard the word amputation and God, how he hoped doctors would be able to save Alan's foot. He knew of Jeff's plans for International Rescue and he knew Alan would think himself incapable to partake in it if he was missing his foot.

Frank found it hard to tear his eyes from Alan's leg and he forced himself to look back up at Alan's face. The kid was whiter than his normally healthy complexion portrayed. He closed his eyes as he tried to make himself relax back on his gurney for the duration of the flight.

… … … … … … … … … … …

Jeff watched the hospital approaching in the distance as Mr. Carvel directed the vehicle in that direction. True to his word, Mr. Carvel had been able to obtain a police escort and it had lessened the length of time that they'd been on the road. It felt like forever since he'd gotten the call and he just wanted to see his son. He hadn't called his other sons and he'd made a mental note to do so once he was in the hospital and had gotten word on his son's condition.

"Here we are Mr. Tracy." Mr. Carvel said as he pulled to a stop in front of the hospital. He handed Jeff a business card with a phone number on it. "Here is my business card, give me a call if you need a ride back to the lodge. I'm more than happy to help."

"Thank you, I appreciate it." Jeff said before shaking Mr. Carvel's hand. "May we meet again, although I hope it's under better circumstances."

"Likewise, Mr. Tracy. I'll be keeping you and your family in my thoughts and prayers." Mr. Carvel said before he pulled away from the hospital curb. Jeff gave pause for a moment before hurrying into the hospital and striding to the front desk. He offered the unit secretary a grim smile as he waited to be told news on his youngest child. He struggled to maintain his composure when the secretary regrettably informed him that she didn't have any updates, but she was kind enough to tell him that the doctor would be with him shortly. So, it was with a discontent sigh that he went to sit among the gathered individuals waiting to hear news on their loved ones or waiting for treatment. He fiddled with his wedding band, praying that his late wife was with Alan in the treatment room beyond the doors he wasn't permitted behind.

He kept to himself as he thought over the events of the last few days. He knew he'd sent Alan on this plane ride that'd turned disastrous, but he wondered if it'd be worth it to continue with enrolling Alan in military school. He hadn't originally liked the idea of sending his son off to a new school as a punishment, but he'd reached his limit with Alan's devil-may-care attitude.

"Family for Tracy?"

Jeff looked up and glanced around to make sure nobody else was standing to meet the nurse that was standing in the door holding a clipboard. When he was sure she was referring to him he stood and went to greet the young woman wearing navy blue scrubs.

"I'm Jeff Tracy, I think you're treating my son Alan?" Jeff said when he stopped in front of the petite woman, she stood to about the bottom of his sternum and Jeff couldn't believe a lady her size could command such a presence.

"Your son is a minor is that correct?" The nurse asked with a kind smile.

"That's correct, he's fifteen." Jeff confirmed as he smiled anxiously back at the nurse.

"Come with me and I'll take you to meet with the surgeon that's treating your son." The nurse said before turning to lead Jeff through the doors that Jeff had gazed at longingly upon arrival. "I'm Marie by the way and if you have any questions, please feel free to ask."

"Thank you, Marie. I appreciate your help." Jeff said. He continued to follow Marie through the halls of the hospital until they'd reached a carpeted hallway. They stopped beside a door and Marie motioned for Jeff to enter.

"Dr. Pelsma is waiting on your arrival." Marie said.

"Yes, thank you." Jeff said before he knocked. He heard a gentle call of permission for the door to be opened. Jeff looked in to see a man a little bit younger than himself and he sucked in a deep breath before entering the room. "I'm Jeff Tracy, you're treating my son?"

"Yes, please come in and have a seat." Dr. Pelsma said before motioning to the seat in front of his desk.

Jeff entered the room and sat before directing a sobering look at the surgeon.

"How's my son?" Jeff inquired, nervous to learn more on the condition of his child.

"You don't beat around the bush, do you?" Dr. Pelsma asked with a bemused grin.

"Not when it concerns my family. Please tell it to me straight." Jeff said cutting to the chase.

"Your son is dehydrated right now, though I think it's fair to assume your son and the other gentleman that was accompanying him failed to ingest enough water to ward off dehydration. We're providing him some saline solution as well as some antibiotics to attempt to ward off the infection Alan's injured leg is brewing. That being said, your son is not out of the woods, no pun intended." Dr. Pelsma said. "Your son was unfortunate enough to step into a spring-loaded steel leghold trap most commonly known as a bear trap. One of the rescue team located the device and brought it along so we could have it tested."

"Tested…for what?" Jeff asked feeling like an ice-cold hand gripped his heart.

"I won't lie Mr. Tracy, the trap your son had the misfortune of triggering was old. It was covered in layers of rust and other organisms, we're waiting to hear back from the lab to find out exactly what. We'd like to give Alan a tetanus booster unless he's had one in recent years." Dr. Pelsma said while requesting permission to offer preventative treatment to Alan at such time.

"He's due for his booster. But he doesn't like needles, so it's been hard to get him scheduled for a follow-up appointment." Jeff said, sad that he'd let it slide every time he'd tell Alan that he'd need to get him in for a check-up.

"Not to worry, we can go ahead and give it to him. He won't feel a thing." Dr. Pelsma replied rather cheerily.

"What about his foot?" Jeff inquired, worried for his son's condition.

"It's not pretty Mr. Tracy. Alan has got two different points of entry from the trap closing around his ankle. It would appear that Alan or his companion tried to pry the trap open after the initial closing and Alan's foot shifted just so that when the trap closed again, it punctured a few centimeters away from the initial point of entry." Dr. Pelsma said. "We took Alan down to X-ray upon his arrival and the trap broke Alan's ankle as well as penetrating the flesh. Now we're going to need to treat Alan's broken ankle, but until we've got the infection in his foot under control…we won't be able to initiate surgery."

"Do you know what kind of infection you're fighting right now?" Jeff asked, worried for his son's health.

"We've begun a broad spectrum antibiotic treatment so hopefully we can nip the infection in the bud. We don't know what kind of infection it is at present, but I've got our labs on the hunt." Dr. Pelsma said. "As it is, we're monitoring Alan's condition, so Alan's wound is not bound or covered otherwise. Alan will be on bed rest for the foreseeable future and I'm afraid we'll be keeping him in the PICU until we're sure how he's handling the bombardment of antibiotics to keep the infection at bay. Once we've got the infection under control, we'll be able to take Alan to surgery to stabilize his ankle and let him recover from his ordeal."

"Thank you, doctor if I may ask though…when can I see my son?" Jeff inquired hoping it wouldn't be much longer.

"I can take you to him. I'll need to advise you though that you can look but please don't touch Alan's wound. We've got it open to air for the time being, so we don't have to unwrap the bandage every time we need to check the wound for the progression of the infection." Dr. Pelsma said before he stood to walk around the side of his desk. "Let's get you to your son. I'm sure you've waited long enough."

… … … … … … … … … … …

The moment Jeff got to see Alan again for the first time in several days was anticlimactic. The movies always portray separated family members to practically run to each other's arms crying and begging for forgiveness or exclaiming proclamations of love. Jeff's reunion with Alan however was nothing like the movies…thankfully. Jeff had in all reality entered the pediatric intensive care unit and approached his son's bed quietly.

His movements were slow as he moved to pick up his son's limp hand and sit in an inadequately padded chair. Alan was blessedly asleep, Jeff had been reassured that Alan had come awake shortly after arriving at the hospital and while he'd fallen asleep minutes after being given pain medication. That didn't stop Jeff from placing one of his hands palm down on Alan's brow to check him for fever and he frowned as he felt Alan's temperature was a little elevated. Jeff rotated his hand to rest the back of his hand against Alan's forehead before moving down to feel his cheek. Alan still had a fever and Jeff hoped that that soon changed, and Alan awoke soon.

"Alan, it's dad. I'm sorry I put you on that plane. I'm sorry I enrolled you against your will. I'm just sorry. If it wasn't for me growing fed up with your antics, you might not have been on that plane and neither you nor Frank might have crashed. You might not have gotten hurt and neither would Frank." Jeff whispered to Alan before a snort from behind had him whirling around.

"You know as well as I do that Alan likely would have been on that plane with me at some point. I was the one to teach all your boys how to pilot a plane. If the plane hadn't crashed now…when might it have?" Frank asked as he stood a few feet behind Jeff, arm strapped to his chest with a sling. "How're you doing old friend?"

"Frank!" Jeff went to hug his friend in greeting, careful of his arm. "You're hurt?"

"Yeah, dislocated my shoulder when we crashed…Alan helped me realign the confounded thing. But the doctors were able to put humpty-dumpty back together again." Frank said with bemused smile. "How's the kid doing?"

"He's asleep, I'd hoped he'd have been awake when I got here." Jeff said before frowning slightly. "Sleep seems to be more important though."

"Yeah, the kid didn't get much in the way of sleep that was for sure. Kid kept waking up several times throughout the night. The poor kid hasn't been afraid of the dark since he was eight, but he seemed terrified when we were out there." Frank said somewhat in disbelief. "I noticed he was reading one of those books of spooky tales when we were flying out, maybe he just scared himself."

"If you only knew." Jeff said before realizing he was missing something. "Hang on…why aren't you dressed out in hospital garb?"

"I signed myself out after I was given a bag of saline. I'm fine. They gave me the prescription to make me comfortable while my arm heals. My old lady and son are on their way and we'll be going home as soon as I see that boy of yours open his striking blue eyes." Frank said before he heaved a sigh. "I can't help but feel responsible for your boy's injury though. We started butting heads and Alan went off on his own to cool off and fell down an embankment. It was all downhill from there, your boy got hurt and I tried to help him the best I could, and he got sick. I just hope he makes a full recovery."

"He'll be fine with time. He won't be running any marathons right away, but he'll get well eventually." Jeff said before he felt his pocket buzz. "Can I ask you a favor? Would you keep an eye on Alan while I take this call? It's Scott, he said he'd call me to get updates."

"Go talk to your boy, I can keep an eye on Alan." Frank said before claiming the chair beside Alan's bed while Jeff slipped out of the PICU to go to a cell phone approved area. Frank looked down at the teen that had been left in his care and he lowered his head in prayer. Praying that Alan recovered fully, that Jeff, Alan, the other boys didn't hold anything against him for the plane going down. There wasn't much he could do; the FAA would need to investigate all possible reasons for the plane going down. Pilot error not excluded.

Frank wondered to himself since the plane crash whether he'd missed a step when checking out his plane prior to takeoff. He ran through his mental checklist and knew without a doubt that he'd covered every. single. step. He personally couldn't figure it out.

"Scott was just checking in. I told him we've recovered Alan and he's getting his brothers together, so they'll be here shortly." Jeff said as he re-entered the room a few minutes later. "How are Kyle and Wendy doing?"

"I called them, and Kyle said his mom was beside herself with worry. When he told her, I had just arrived at the hospital; she insisted they board the next available train to get here. My Wendy hates flying and me crashing my plane just reinforces her not having a desire to go in the air. They'll be here in two hours." Frank said as he stretched his legs out in front of himself. "I hope you don't mind that I told them that I'd be keeping you company while Alan received treatment."

"I don't mind, the more the merrier as far as I'm concerned." Jeff said while he claimed one of many chairs scattered in the PICU. He sat by Frank and looked at his youngest boy. "I'm glad you're doing better, can't say I slept much while you two were missing."

"Then why don't you cop a nod while we wait on our families to get here? Not like Alan's going to be much scintillating company while he's snoozing." Frank said as he entertained nodding off himself. He was tired, and he knew he could use the sleep.

"I think that sounds like a promising idea." Jeff said as he copied Frank and stretched out in his chair.

… … … … … … … … … … …

A little while later Scott pulled the same make and model car that Alan took for a joy ride and crashed into the hospital parking lot. This one wasn't totaled though, Jeff had felt bad that Scott had purchased that car and so he'd replaced it for Scott to make up for Alan's blunder.

"Did dad say which floor Alan was on?" Gordon asked worriedly for his little brother's welfare. Their dad hadn't mentioned much to the brothers regarding Alan's injuries…only that he was receiving treatment.

"He said Alan was on 16B, hell if I know what floor that is." Scott said as he hit the alarm button on his key fob, locking the car doors and activating the car alarm after his brothers exited the vehicle and walked beside him. "We'll just ask the front desk."

The brothers walked together into the hospital facility. They noticed the diverse groups of people gathered around. Everyone was there either visiting a loved one, receiving treatment or otherwise. Scott and his brothers weren't quite the spectacle that most people believed happened when they entered a room. In fact, they were only given a cursory glance. Virgil went to the front desk and he smiled at the unit secretary. She held up her finger indicating she would be with them in one second as she was talking hurriedly on the phone – leaving a brief voicemail it would seem. When she finished, she hung up the phone and returned the smile at Virgil.

"How may I help you gentlemen?" The unit secretary asked coyly, puffing out her chest and flirting shamelessly with Virgil who didn't take the bait.

"We're here to visit our little brother and were told he was on floor 16B. Could you point us in the right direction?" Virgil asked, being pleasant, though anyone who knew Virgil well knew he was irritable with the secretary for flirting…he didn't like people acting unprofessional and would voice it at his next available opportunity. There was a better time and place in his opinion and a hospital was it.

"Oh yes, when you go straight towards that hall; you'll take a left and go to the bank of elevators. There you'll go to the fourth floor and take two lefts and one right and you'll find 16B, you can't miss it." The unit secretary said, acting a little more put together than she had previously.

"Thank you." Virgil said before leading his brothers to the elevator bank. When they entered one of the elevators, they seemed to hold their breath as it made its slow descent upwards. When they reached the correct floor, they exited and followed the directions given to them. It was with more than a little dismay when those directions led them to a hall labeled as the pediatric intensive care unit. "I knew boobs-for-brains down there has to have her wires crossed."

"Let's give it a chance, we won't know unless we talk to the unit secretary. If we are wrong, maybe they can point us in the right direction." John said, leading the pack to the front desk. There he got a completely different response than Virgil got. "Hi, I was wondering if you could direct us to 16B?"

"You're here hon. Who are you looking for?" Janice the unit secretary asked. She looked between each of the young men in front of her expectantly. When none of the boys spoke up, Gordon who felt like he'd burst if he didn't learn any news on his little brother spoke their brother's name.

"Alan Tracy, he was flown in by helicopter. He's our brother" Gordon said, watching as the unit secretary typed in the name. She nodded to herself before she spoke.

"Yes, we have him. From here you'll take a right, go down the long hallway then take a left and you should see room 210, that's his unit. Be advised that he's probably sleeping, so you'll need to be quiet." Janice said with a sad smile.

"Thank you, ma'am." Gordon said before going with his brothers where they were directed.

They walked for a few moments before it seemed to hit all of them that Alan was in the pediatric intensive care unit and suddenly it occurred to Scott that his dad said Alan was fine.

"Fine, my ass. If he's in the intensive care unit, he's most certainly not fine." Scott growled under his breath as he made a b-line up the hall, coming to a stop in front of room 210. Glancing in, Scott saw three other beds, only two of the beds were occupied and the one in the furthest corner of the room had two adult males nearby. Scott could see his dad and knew Alan was there. "There they are."

The brothers pushed open the door, nodded at the nurse overseeing the PICU before making their way to the far bed. Once they'd stopped in front of Alan, they each looked their brother over – eyes stopping collectively on his foot. John had to steel himself to the view when he felt his stomach somersault at the sight of Alan's injured foot. He noticed Gordon's eyes were wide while Virgil's mouth was gaping open. Scott on the other hand looked like a kicked puppy. He visibly deflated and took them all by surprise when he spoke.

"Can I have a moment alone with Al?" Scott requested softly.

"Sure dude." John said before he shooed his younger brothers out into the hall.

When he was alone with Alan, Scott sat on Alan's bed taking his brother by the hand and giving his fingers a squeeze.

"I'm so sorry kiddo, if I'd only given you the time of day – let you have a go when I test drove my car around the closed lot, you wouldn't have felt the need to sneak out for a joyride. Then I was the one that made dad send you away. I was angry over you wrecking my car, never mind the fact that dad already told me he'd replace my car. I insisted he send you far away, as far from me as was possible. I was so angry, but…I was angry for the wrong reasons. I should have been concerned, worried you were hurt, shown compassion and understanding. Not thrown the book at you, put you in a situation where you could have died. Where I could have lost you…for what? A material item? Having that car would have meant nothing to me if I'd have lost you. I hope one day you'll be able to forgive me." Scott said, feeling lower than the lowest low. Here he'd said his apologies and Alan was out for the count. Or so he thought.

"Y'r forgiven." Alan mumbled, prying his eyes open a sliver so he may look at his oldest brother.

"Alan? How're you feeling?" Scott asked, glad to hear his brother's voice. He couldn't help looking at Alan's foot for a brief second, grimacing as he felt the pain Alan had to have felt and wishing he could trade places with Alan.

"My head is floaty…" Alan slurred, gracing Scott with a dorky smile.

"That's called being high kid." Gordon said as he re-entered the room. He came closer with his two other brothers. "They've got you on the good stuff."

Alan didn't say anything, and he tipped his head and gave an odd stare. John seemed to take notice and he waved his hand in front of Alan's face, snapping his fingers twice to get his attention before looking at his brothers for a second. "He's higher than a kite on a windy day…what kind of stuff do they have him on?"

"It's a little bit of everything." The brothers looked to their right, seeing their father was awake. "They're fighting an infection Alan's got cooking in that open wound and so they're giving it all they've got in one go."

"And what if it doesn't work?" Scott asked, hoping the answer wasn't as bad as he thought it might be.

"If it can't be fought, it can lead to a staph infection and if not treated properly could lead to MRSA or even produce a gangrene infection. The doctors will do all they can to prevent some more…permanent measures." Jeff hesitated for a second, making Virgil give him the hairy eyeball.

"By more…permanent…you don't mean amputation?" Virgil hoped that's not what his dad meant, but he felt sick to his stomach at the thought.

"Yes, they've already told me that if Alan's infection gets stronger…too hard for them to beat – Alan may have to lose his foot, but I insisted they do all they can to prevent that outcome. Hence the barrage of drug cocktails." Jeff explained once before looking at his youngest son with regret. "I failed him once, I won't fail him again."

"You didn't…" John started to say before Jeff held up one of his hands to silence John's rebuttal.

"I failed your brother by not trying to understand him better. If I'd been more understanding, given him more time – he might not have turned out the way he did. He didn't have a mom, I should have stepped up, taken more of an interest in things that interested him. Instead I let some of my responsibilities slide by and your brother suffered for it." Jeff said, explaining how he failed Alan.

"Nooo." Alan slurred as he came back around to himself after his little side adventure. "You not fail…me."

"See, Alan doesn't blame you for what happened." Virgil said hoping his oldest brother and father understood what the youngest member of their family was getting at.

"To be honest, I think he wouldn't know blame right now if it hit him in the face and said, 'Hi I'm Bob.' He's high." Gordon said, finding a bit of humor in Alan's actions.

"Gentlemen…ssh." The nurse chided when everyone got just a touch too loud.

"Sorry." Scott whispered back holding his hand up to his family and indicating they needed to be quieter. "Anyway, we should probably go…we haven't slept since you called to say Alan and Frank's plane went down."

"Okay, drive safe and send me a text when you boys are coming back to visit, and I'll let you know if Alan's up for company." Jeff said as he stood to hug each of his other sons. Frank stayed asleep through the remainder of the brother's visit and nobody thought ill of him for sleeping hard. They figured that four nights without proper sleep and a lot of miles covered on foot had to exhaust anyone, but especially these two.


	7. Believe It When I See It

_**A/N: So here is the latest update to this story. I'm sad to say it, but next week will be the last update for this story before it's finished. I haven't planned on writing a continuation. I'm thinking of writing a sequel for Better Than Catnip, which as those of you that read it know it's based on my real life experiences. It's just a thought right now, but it's thought that won't really leave me alone. I'm also thinking of writing a story that's more about how ALan and Fermat became friends only instead of speculating on whether they've been best friend's since early childhood, it's one that develops when they're assigned to be roommates in the same dorm.**_

 _ **Anyway, I love reviews and I love getting them, but please keep in mind that I won't tolerate disparaging remarks about my writing. If you don't have anything kind to say, keep your comments to yourself. Thanks and you're all awesome! BTW, all mistakes are mine and I accept that. I don't use a beta reader and have to proofread for my own mistakes. So, blame me if you see any misspellings.**_

 _ **On with the story!**_

 _ **Sad-Blue-Eyed-Angel 2010**_

* * *

That night was rough for Alan. His fever spiked, and he'd woken his father who'd been permitted to spend the night with him in the PICU, calling out whilst in the throes of a fever induced dream. Jeff couldn't recall ever hearing Alan let out such a yell, not even when he and one of his brothers got into a brawl. Standing hurriedly, Jeff lowered the safety rails on the side of Alan's bed and sat beside his boy and began murmuring at him, attempting to calm him down.

Whispering an apology to the other young teen who was sharing a room with Alan as well as the nurse who was supervising the unit, Jeff turned his attention back to his child. Alan was sweating, kept balling his hands into fists and thrashing his head from side to side. Jeff had to dodge when Alan threw a punch out of nowhere, but he had kind of expected Alan to be slightly combative. Jeff grabbed Alan's hand, the same one that swung at him and he held it down to the bed and took to talking to Alan soothingly. Alan cried out several more times over the next few hours, but mostly kept his fever dreams quiet.

To say that Jeff didn't get much sleep was an understatement. He stayed up with Alan, running a damp hand towel over Alan's forehead and cheek to help keep him comfortable. He felt like he needed to hold his eyelids up with toothpicks and morning didn't come soon enough. As soon as the hospital visiting hours came about, Frank and his wife Wendy came up to the PICU and they smiled when they greeted Jeff. Wendy came forward and began cooing at Alan while he continued sleeping. She ran a tender thumb across Alan's forehead and down his cheek.

Jeff watched Wendy as she tended to his boy and couldn't help but wonder how life might have been different had Lucy not died upon Alan's birth. Wendy, God Bless her. She tried to be the mother Alan never had, but distance was a big factor that prevented her from really being there for Alan when he needed a mom. So, Jeff's own mother had stepped in to act as a surrogate mother for Alan. It'd been a rough time. Alan had been a wild child, yet he'd also been such a sweet kid. Then Jeff's mother had developed a cough and she'd ignored it. Every time Jeff tried to convince his mother to go to the doctor, she'd brush off his concerns and say she was fine.

Now that Jeff thought about it, right around the time that Alan discovered his grandmother was when he changed dramatically. Jeff would never forget that day either. His mother had moved in with them at the brownstone that they'd previously owned and they'd been happy. Alan had been happy, healthy and very well behaved. The morning Jeff would never forget was the morning he found out that his mother died. She'd died at home, in bed at the Brownstone with all her boys there.

Alan had gone in to wake his grandmother at Jeff's behest for breakfast and his little nine-year-old had gone in like he always had. He'd said he'd gone in, gently shook his grandma and when she didn't move he tried again to wake her. She stayed still and Alan called her name several times before he came racing to the kitchen to report to Jeff that grandma wasn't waking up. Jeff went to check on her and then he'd had to tell each of his boys that grandma was gone. That was when all of his problems with Alan truly began.

When Jeff realized that, he visibly deflated. He found it hard to believe that Alan seemed to be crying out for attention like Virgil told him Frank suggested. But as he thought back on Alan's behavior and when he began acting out, it all made sense. Jeff had been busy working, barely making time for Alan. He hadn't really adjusted his life or schedule to accommodate the fact that his mother had passed on. He'd left Alan by himself or in the care of one of his brothers.

"Jeff?"

Frank had come over, his unbound hand on Jeff's shoulder as he shook him to gain his attention. Jeff looked up at his friend tiredly. It'd been a long couple of days and Jeff thought he hadn't had any more than five hours of sleep in total.

"Why don't you go get some sleep? You look like you could use it." Frank asked as he turned back to look at Wendy who had taken to humming to Alan as she sat on the side of his bed, continuing her ministrations. Jeff only just noticed the teddy bear that apparently Wendy brought with her tucked under Alan's arm. Jeff knew it hadn't been there a few minutes ago. "Jeff?"

"Hmm? What?" Jeff inquired tiredly. It'd only just occurred to him that Frank spoke to him and he knew his friend might pull rank on him to get him to leave the hospital.

"I said, 'why don't you go get some sleep? You look like you could use it.' I can call Kyle and get him to bring the car around and give you a lift." Frank suggested.

And if Jeff was being honest, sleep sounded amazing…but he didn't want to leave Alan alone. As if she were reading his mind, Wendy spoke up from beside Alan.

"We can keep an eye on him for you while you go get some sleep. Please, Alan needs you well if you're going to take care of him for the next while. He doesn't need you catching your death because you've run yourself into the ground." Wendy said as she turned back to look at Jeff meaningfully. "Besides, I haven't spent nearly enough time with Alan as I promised our dearly departed Lucy I would."

Jeff had to admit, it was a tough decision to make but overall his fatigue won the argument. Frank called Kyle and the young man who was a few years younger than Scott met Jeff in the parking lot. He took Jeff to the motel where Scott and his brothers were and promised to go with Virgil or John back to the lodge later to retrieve Jeff's belongings and bring them to the motel. When he'd set foot in his motel room, Jeff walked up to his single king mattress and fell face first into it's pillowtop. He was asleep before he realized it.

… … … … … … … … … … …

It was a few days and several visits later when Alan was weaned off the strong pain medications he'd been on previously. His doctor didn't like leaving his patients on the strong stuff for long out of fear that they'd grow dependent, so Alan was given pain medications that weren't habit forming and that allowed him to return to his normal snobby self. Alan's family however wouldn't ask for any different. Alan would be undergoing surgery here shortly and it would be a nerve-racking wait. The surgeon, Dr. Pelsma wouldn't confirm nor deny the state of Alan's foot until he went in to check the damage and got a better look.

Alan's surgery would be the following morning at seven on the nose. Dr. Pelsma had already come in to explain to the family the outcomes of the surgery. It could go one of several ways. Alan could go in for surgery and come out with a sewn-up foot and it work as well as if not better than it did before the incident. Or he could go in to have surgery and come out without a foot. Dr. Pelsma said he wouldn't know what he was doing for Alan until he got to check the damage. That wasn't to mention how Alan might be if he got his foot sewn up and his foot was just a bum limb.

Jeff was sitting in the chair by Alan's side of his bed and was running his fingers through his hair as the teen snoozed. Scott was reading a magazine while Virgil was drumming his fingers to a beat only he knew. John had found a piece of yarn somewhere and was making cat's cradle and Gordon was staring off into space. They were all waiting for that time that Alan would be whisked away even if it was a day away. A soft growl made everyone look up to see whose stomach protested not being fed and they all smiled slightly when Alan began to rub his stomach. He smacked his lips just before opening his mouth like he was going to take a bite of something and soon he was chewing air. His brothers snickered before Virgil whispered aloud.

"Is Alan sleep eating?"

"Yeah…you think he's hungry?" Scott whispered back, while trying to stifle another snicker.

"I'd think so." John said before he stood to check Alan's chart. "I don't see where he's not permitted to have outside food. Do you think it'd hurt to go on a food run and go grab him a burger or something?"

"I'd check with the nurses first. It wouldn't normally be a bad thing, but he might have dietary restrictions considering he's on antibiotics and scheduled to have surgery tomorrow." Virgil advised.

"Should I dad?" John inquired. He figured he'd do something nice for the kid especially knowing he'd been without proper food that wasn't hospital prepared or prepackaged noodles during his little endeavor.

"Go on." Jeff said, not stopping his ministrations.

When John had left the room they'd all returned to what they were doing when they heard another growl from Alan's stomach. He was still taking bites of imagined food in his sleep and it was quite clear that he needed something to eat before he woke up in a grumpy mood.

"I hope they approve outside food, Alan hasn't been too fond of the food the folks here have been fixing." Gordon said, knowing his brother was a picky eater on a good day.

"I'm sure they will, John can be pretty persuasive." Scott said as he smiled at his kid brother who was still trying to eat imaginary food. "He's gonna feel so silly when we tell him he's been eating air."

It was a few minutes later that John returned. He smiled at his family with a nod.

"They said Alan can have anything he wants, it'll be after surgery that they'll restrict his diet for a few days should he have adverse reactions." John said before looking at his little brother. "So, should I wake him?"

"I would, I'd hate for you to go to the effort of going to get him food and it be not what he's in the mood for. You know how prissy he gets sometimes." Scott replied, whilst rolling his eyes.

"Scott." Jeff chided with a sigh before he shook his head at his eldest. "I know your brother acts spoiled, but maybe we should begin cutting him some slack. I haven't treated him as fairly as I did you or your other brothers."

"Alright." Scott grumbled as he watched his dad stroke his thumb over Alan's eyebrows, smoothing out the little wrinkle that'd formed the louder he and his family spoke.

"Alan, wake up. Come on kiddo, I know you must be hungry." Jeff said, lightly cajoling his youngest. When Alan's eyes opened marginally, he looked at his dad with a slow blink. "There you are, John got permission from your doctor to go get you some outside food. Was there anything in particular you wanted?"

"Cheeseburger, fries…want." Alan mumbled before his eyes slipped back closed. Alan seemed to have gone back to sleep very quickly before he mumbled an additional request. "M'lkshke."

Gordon snorted at Alan's last request before he nodded at John. "Well you heard the man, he wants a cheeseburger and fries with a milkshake."

… … … … … … … … … … …

The next morning came all too soon and the family was on pins and needles as they waited for Alan to return from surgery. They got periodic updates from the nurse aiding Dr. Pelsma with surgery. So far Alan was doing well as everything seemed to be going according to plan. Alan's surgery would require the surgical team and orthopedist to pin Alan's broken ankle as well as close the wound as best as they could. Only time would tell if Alan would regain full use of his leg, time and lots of physical therapy.

Jeff kept watching the clock in Alan's room. The day prior, Jeff allowed himself to feel relief when Alan's attending told him that he thought Alan's risk of infection had lessened greatly. Alan would still be kept on IV antibiotics until about three days following his surgery, but Alan's attending felt confident that they'd gotten on top of the infection and had successfully fought it back so that it wasn't a huge concern to Dr. Pelsma. Alan had been moved into his own room just two days earlier. Already Alan had been in surgery for about two hours and Jeff was anxiously waiting for Alan to be brought back to his room.

It was with a long-awaited breath of relief when Dr. Pelsma knocked on the door to Alan's private room and entered swiftly but silently. He was dressed out in sea green scrubs, wearing his half-moon glasses and a surgical cap with lightning bolts printed all over it. Jeff stood to shake the doctor's hand as he smiled at the surgeon.

"Doctor, how'd my son do?" Jeff asked, wanting to know right away if Alan gave his surgeon any trouble.

"He did really well Mr. Tracy, he didn't suffer any complications with his surgery. I'm confident that he'll recover to almost full walking ability and with enough therapy I think he'll be back to running circles around all of you." Dr. Pelsma said with a smile.

"Ah, just what we all need. An energetic teenager." Scott said with a playful shake of his head.

"Hey, I've got two of those and one tween…looking to be like an interesting fatherhood." Dr. Pelsma said with a shrug followed by a sigh. Returning to the conversation at hand, Dr. Pelsma continued. "Alan is in the recovery room right now while he awakens from the anesthesia, if you all would like to go and get a bit of breakfast I can have my nurse call you all when Alan's woken up and he's brought back to his room."

"We'd appreciate it. Thank you, Doctor." Jeff said as he shook Dr. Pelsma's hand once more before bidding the man a farewell.

… … … … … … … … … … …

An hour passed uneventfully for the family, but as promised Jeff's cell phone rang. It was one of Dr. Pelsma's nurses calling to tell the family that Alan had woken up from anesthesia and he'd be moved back to his room and would be there when his family returned from their late breakfast. Jeff ended the call and smiled at his four other sons as they ate their meals.

"Your brother is awake and when we get back he'll be back in his room." Jeff reiterated, thankful that he'd been able to wrangle his sons from Alan's hospital room to get a proper meal.

Jeff knew he himself had failed to provide adequate sustenance for himself, so he could only imagine what his other sons had put into their bottomless pits they called stomachs during the whole incident.

"Let's finish our breakfast before we go back to see Alan." Jeff said, watching as Scott and Gordon seemed to sense the opportunity to challenge each other to an eating contest which Jeff contemplated stopping because for one…he already had one son in the hospital and didn't feel like going with one or two more because they inhaled their food and two…there were people around and some he was sure recognized him and his boys – he didn't feel like having his face or those of his sons in the tabloids acting like heathens. "Please be civilized, your grandma and I didn't raise cavemen."

"Yes dad." Gordon and Scott replied together, wholly chastised.

… … … … … … … … … … …

The return to the hospital was uneventful, Alan had woken up in recovery, but he was back to sleep before his family returned from getting breakfast. His dad and brothers were disappointed but seeing the paleness of Alan's face coupled with the cast his foot was encased in reminded the family that Alan's ordeal was far from over. He'd need physical therapy, that was a must. And while Jeff felt that being involved in a plane crash following a car crash seemed like punishment enough to most – he wasn't most parents.

Jeff knew Alan needed to take responsibility for his actions and Jeff admitted that he'd jumped the gun when it came to deciding Alan would be enrolled in a military school. But Alan needed to learn that stealing his brother's car and wrecking it was wrong and couldn't be done again. The law went easy on him this time, a fine and a blemish on his record because he was a minor and nobody was hurt…this time. Jeff couldn't have Alan doing this again and breaking his own neck or killing someone.

Jeff wondered to himself how he could make Alan learn that he couldn't act like this again and nothing immediately came to mind. He questioned his reasoning and resolved to let Alan have a choice in his punishment. He figured it was only fair for Alan to actually make a decision for himself. When they were home, Jeff would give Alan the chance to decide his own punishment that didn't include being grounded.

As it were, Jeff and his sons were sitting by Alan's hospital bed waiting for the youngster to wake up. He did well during surgery as well as waking in recovery according to the nurse when she called to tell them Alan was being moved to his room. Jeff had taken Alan's hand in his and was caressing the top of Alan's hand with his thumb while his other sons whispered among themselves. Jeff kept wondering where he'd gone wrong with Alan and he let his thoughts run wild as he waited for Alan to wake up.

Dr. Pelsma told Jeff when they'd talked after Alan's surgery that he'd probably release Alan to Jeff's care in the next day or two. It's not like there was any more that could be done for Alan short of round the clock monitoring, but Alan was out of danger. His infection was under control and he was doing well.

At least Jeff thought so. He had a feeling that Alan would be ready to go home no matter what the doctor said. He'd probably be driving his brothers and Jeff up the walls until the doctor walked in with those release papers, or he'd just try to stay as far from the family home as was possible. Things could go either way. Jeff would try to gain an understanding of Alan's feelings when he woke up.

It was a little while later that Alan woke up and just looked at his father and brothers before heaving a sigh. It didn't come as a surprise to Jeff that Alan woke up when he did, but he was surprised that Alan wasn't forthcoming with talking. He just looked up at his dad with pleading eyes and Jeff asked his sons if he could have a moment alone with Alan. They agreed begrudgingly but agreed nonetheless. When they were alone, Alan took the moment to speak.

"I'm sorry dad." Alan whispered, looking at his dad with the same pleading eyes. "I wish now I hadn't done what I did. I know now that an apology won't fix everything, but I hope you can forgive my recklessness."

"I accept your apology, though…I'm not the one you should be apologizing to. Not the only one anyway. I think you owe your brother an apology…quite a few of them as a matter of fact." Jeff advised, he meant it.

Virgil had returned from taking Alan to the flight strip and was deeply bothered with Alan's parting words. It took several hours, a few destroyed canvases and a horribly deafening piano melody to get Virgil to talk about the things his kid brother had said. It had hurt Virgil's feeling and that was saying something. Virgil was a sensitive soul that took harsh criticism to heart and let things said or done to him in fits of anger hurt him. He'd gotten better over the years, where he used to run away crying…now he just bottled it up inside and lets things fester.

Alan looked like he wanted to argue, but he closed his mouth and took a deep breath before he nodded. Jeff figured he'd let Alan select who he wanted to apologize to rather than issuing an order that Alan should make a group apology. After a few moments of waiting Jeff opened his mouth to prompt Alan when he spoke at the same time.

"Can you ask Virgil to come in? Just Virgil right now? I said some pretty awful things to him and…he needs to know I never meant them." Alan asked, face flushing despite the paleness of his post-surgery complexion.

"Sure." Jeff replied softly before he stood up to go ask Virgil to come talk to his brother.

When Jeff and Virgil swapped places, Alan gestured to his brother to take a seat. He waited for Virgil to sit before he started to speak.

"Virgil, you know me and you know that I have a big mouth that sometimes I let speak before I think about what I'm going to say. I apologize for saying that I hated you and our brothers. I don't. I just let my temper get the best of me and I said hurtful things." Alan said looking at his hands which were folded in his lap. "I hope one day you can forgive me for those things."

Virgil kept his poker face as he let Alan's apology wash over him and sure he still felt some animosity over Alan saying things to intentionally hurt him. But he knew Alan did have a motor mouth, he often said things he didn't mean and he typically did feel sorry for the things he said when angry. He didn't immediately say anything to confirm nor deny that he'd accept Alan's apology. He glanced away for a few moments, not expecting to see the look of total devastation on Alan's face when he did look back in his direction. He glanced at his watch and had to take a second look before tapping the face of his watch. He'd not said a word to Alan in the last ten minutes, no wonder the kid looked like someone destroyed his favorite video game.

"Please say something." Alan whispered as he looked on in devastation at his older brother.

"I'm sorry Al…I didn't mean to keep you hanging." Virgil commented softly, feeling bad for leading Alan to believe that he wouldn't forgive him. "I'm still hurt by you telling me that you hated me and the guys. But I forgive you."

"Thank you, Virgil." Alan said, looking very relieved.

"Okay, you know what Grandma always made us do." Virgil opened his arms letting Alan lean in to hug him. "Just please, try not to say those kinds of things again. It hurt when you said you hated me when you were two and it still hurts now. I hate it when you're mad at me."

"I know and I'm sorry." Alan said, hugging Virgil tightly. He took comfort in Virgil ruffling his hair like he always did.

Virgil smiled as he accepted the hug from his youngest brother. He knew it was rare to get an apology from Alan, but it was even more rare to get a hug and an apology. As Virgil had previously said, their grandmother made them always hug when they apologized and when their grandmother died, Alan refused to hug…let alone apologize for his follies.

"Hey, you want to know something?" Virgil inquired as he pulled out of the hug to meet his brother's vibrant blue-eyed gaze.

"What?" Alan asked as he settled back in his pillows, preparing himself for asking Virgil to send John in next.

"I know it's a little early to know for sure, but Scott swears he's giving up the smokes." Virgil said, watching Alan's eyes widen at the news.

"I'll believe it when I see it." Alan said in disbelief.

"Well, I guess you'll have to ask Scott to prove it. I watched him chuck his pack of cigarettes into a dumpster last night. He'd smoked less than a whole cigarette before he said he'd give up the smokes for you, if you were found. About five hours later, Scott called dad and learned you were found." Virgil said, smiling when Alan grinned for the first time in a long time. "I swear to god, Scott's quit."

"I'll take your word for it." Alan replied, feeling a little bit better now that he'd been able to talk to at least one brother. One down, three to go.


	8. Turn Over a New Leaf

**_A/N: So, this is the last chapter for this story. I must say, those of you that have reviewed, favorited and followed this story - blew me out of the water. I loved the reviews and they made everything more palatable for lack of a better word. I've had a few really bad weeks and I've had a hard time focusing on any of my stories short of making minor edits._**

 ** _I'm glad you've all enjoyed this story and hopefully you'll see me around here soon. I hope to have my muse back, shortly. Just need to get my mind out of this little funk and move on with my life. If you suffer from depression, you know what kind of funk I'm talking about. See you around! =)_**

 ** _I don't utilize the aid of a beta reader, so all mistakes are mine. I tried to read through and catch misspellings, honestly if you saw how often I proofread and edit, you'd probably want to drag me away from my laptop. Those of you that really took to the bad-boy Alan, I'm sorry that I didn't keep up his bad-boy persona. It was hard for me to write something in which Alan was anything less than kind. Maybe I'll get another story written soon where I reintroduce the idea of a bad-boy Alan._**

 ** _Sad-Blue-Eyed-Angel 2010_**

* * *

It was the next afternoon that Alan was given the go-ahead from his attending that he could be taken home. Gordon had thought ahead when Jeff had told the boys that Alan had been found and taken to hospital. He'd remembered to retrieve Alan's slippers and some comfortable clothes for when he was released into their care. Alan had timidly asked Gordon for help with dressing and when he'd finished, he was wearing the Air Force hoodie that Scott had loaned him when he'd been in the Air Force. It had over the years become one of Alan's prized possessions despite the brother's frequent arguments, so Scott had been forced to relinquish ownership of the garment. The same had happened to a pair of sweatpants that John bought when he was away at college. The letter decals were fading off the leg of the well-worn sweatpants and the elastic in the ankles had been stretched out from a lot of wear and tear and so there hadn't been a problem with the sweatpants fitting over Alan's cast.

Alan had trouble getting used to the crutches, but once they were adjusted for his height he hadn't had a problem.

"You ready to break out of here?" Gordon asked as he sat in the wheelchair Alan was expected to use as he exited the hospital. He popped a wheelie and centered his weight, so he was balanced without many wobbles.

"Yeah, I just really want to go home." Alan replied, rolling his eyes at the juvenile looking teddy bear that had found its way on his nightstand during the night shortly after arriving at the hospital. He suspected Frank's wife Wendy brought the stuffed animal. She was like an aunt to him and his brothers and she often mothered them all when in their proximity.

"I can't blame you kiddo, you're doing better than I'd be after a plane crash." Virgil said as he entered the room before his dad and older brothers. When he saw Gordon balanced precariously in Alan's wheelchair, he walked over pointedly forcing Gordon to place the wheels of Alan's wheelchair firmly on the floor. "This isn't a toy! If you break it, you buy it!"

"Duh!" Gordon replied before he stood to push the wheelchair closer to Alan.

"Okay boys, you ready to get this show on the road?" Jeff asked as he carefully eyed his five boys upon entering Alan's private hospital room.

"Yes sir!" They all responded.

"Alright then…Virgil did you want to go pull the car around? Gordon, you want to go with your brother?" Jeff asked as he held up the keys for his middle son to grab. "I'll be out with your brothers in a few minutes."

"Sure. Thanks, dad!" Virgil replied before he grabbed the keys and Gordon by the scruff of his neck and pulled him along. "Come on you."

Gordon and Virgil both left the vicinity, Gordon moaning over Virgil's hands being cold on the back of his neck and Virgil bickering with his immediate little brother about how he was wrong. Jeff chuckled at their antics before he went to Alan and steadied the wheelchair while John and Scott helped Alan maneuver into his wheelchair.

Once situated adequately, the four of them left the ward Alan's room was located and made their way downstairs. Alan chose not to look at any of his family after they'd entered the elevator and he waited anxiously for them to be back at their home. At least there he could hide in his room, away from his family whom he'd just felt were still angry at him.

When they were back home, Alan was permitted to take refuge in his room to get his bearings. It'd been a long and agonizing drive to the airfield followed by an equally agonizing flight in the family jet. It didn't help that Alan had a partial meltdown when the aircraft had been hit with a little turbulence. He'd started panicking when the jet shuddered with the turbulence and John had knelt in front of Alan and forced Alan's head between his knees, urging his little brother to take deep breaths to calm down. When asked about his panic, Alan had fretted over the fact that the plane he and Frank had been flying in had shuddered similarly before they'd started losing altitude.

Jeff, Scott, John, Virgil and Gordon had all been in the living room watching TV when Alan had come out to sit with them. John ordered a pizza for them and he'd added pineapple just for Alan. The youngest loved pineapple on his pepperoni pizza while the rest of them picked the pineapple off and gave it to Alan. Scott reached down and gently pulled Alan's leg onto his lap, so he could get it elevated. After the pizza had arrived and they'd eaten, Jeff felt like getting the mentions of Alan's punishment in the air. It'd be better to be made the bad guy before long and let Alan be mad at him now rather than later.

"So, we know that the reason Alan was on that plane with Frank in the first place was because he'd stolen Scott's car and took it out without a license and crashed it. I think it's only fair that we discuss options for punishment and Alan can pick his punishment. Grounding is off the table though and it must be something reasonable. When I decided Alan go to a military school, I was mad and I let my feelings cloud my judgement. This time I think we should decide as a family what Alan should do." Jeff said.

"But, he survived a plane crash and was lost just outside of the Appalachian trail for several days. He stepped into a bear trap and suffered an infection, isn't that punishment enough?" Gordon asked, feeling a little upset that their dad was being relentless about punishment, so Alan learned his lesson.

"No, it's not. I wouldn't have been on that plane if I hadn't acted out, it was just one of the many consequences of what I did." Alan said, silencing any argument from his brothers in his defense. He could see where his dad was coming from. "I think it's only fair if I do something that we all can agree on as a fair punishment."

"Did you have anything in mind Alan?" Jeff inquired of Alan and the teen had a pensive look cross his face as he wondered whether the punishment he had in mind would be comparable enough.

"I gave it some thought while I was in my bedroom and…I figure it'd be for the best if you enroll me in boot camp." Alan offered, not looking at any member of his family. "I know I won't be able to attend until I get the okay to walk from my doctor, but me going to boot camp might be good for me. You guys always say I don't have enough discipline, so what better place to learn discipline than at boot camp?"

Jeff was taken by surprise at Alan's suggestion. He was also a little puzzled that Alan would volunteer himself to a boot camp program which would be used to force Alan to learn discipline and various anger management skills. He wouldn't disagree, Alan could learn those useful skills. But after declaring Alan would go away to a military school only to hear he failed to arrive there because the plane he was in had crashed, Jeff was wary to send Alan anywhere unless he took him and delivered him personally.

"Alan, don't you think that'd be too hard on you? You know since you've only just been discharged from the hospital after surgery?" John asked, feeling more than a little surprised that Alan would willingly put himself in the situation of having drill instructors screaming in his face for sassing his superiors. Alan was awful when it came to be holding his tongue and if the right button was pushed, Alan would give the drill instructors some smart remark. And wouldn't _that_ be fun for the kid?

"What else would you suggest? I mean, you all are constantly telling me that I need to learn better discipline. You all are also reminding me that I am too immature. Maybe it's time I…"

"Alan, have you given any thought to punishments that you might be able to do with us?" Virgil inquired, cutting Alan off mid-sentence. "I know it may not seem like a fun idea, but we'll be moving to our new home soon. What if you went with us when we travel there to help build the rest of the house?"

"Virge, you know I'm an accident looking for a place to happen even on a good day. Would you really trust me with power tools?" Alan asked with a raised eyebrow. He didn't trust himself operating a stapler, the last time he operated one of those he'd been unfortunate enough to staple his own fingers to the sheaf of papers. That was a painful reminder that he wouldn't soon be forgetting.

"Nobody said you had to operate power tools, you might be able to hand us materials or operate a paint brush." Virgil said before realizing that he was asking Alan to try not to be a klutz. "Never mind."

"How about Alan just be my personal assistant when I have to work with dad in the office? Even he can't screw up a cup of coffee or retrieving a bottle of water from the employee break room. Lord knows I can't ever keep a personal assistant for more than a week." Scott said, suggesting that his brother just be at his beck and call.

"You can't keep a personal assistant because of all your demands. You're worse than Miranda Priestly from Devil Wears Prada, I swear you'd have your personal assistants running all over creation looking for the Holy Grail just to see their reaction when you declare them fired." John said with a venomous look. "Look, Alan likes to read for the most part. Why don't we just have him help me alphabetize the books in the study? That'll take forever if I do it by myself."

"Here's an idea…why doesn't Alan help each of us with specific tasks? Then we're there to make sure he isn't getting into mischief and we learn his limits at the same time he's learning our limits also?" Virgil suggested, hoping that his idea was heard and understood. "I know you're our family Alan, but I don't think we've all spent enough time with the other to learn what gets our goat. I mean, you're always away at school or we're constantly working. We haven't spent any time together since you were ten."

"But that's the thing Virge…I'm not learning responsibility by helping you all around the house. I thought with you all voting for me to go to military school that you all felt it'd be in my best interest. I only decided on boot camp because it was the next best thing when compared to military school." Alan said hoping his brothers and father didn't object too badly.

"I don't agree with that, but you're entitled to your own opinions." Scott said with a roll of his eyes.

"Let's discuss this later. This is the first time since Alan's little mishap that we've been able to sit down as a family and watch movies." Gordon said, changing the subject helpfully.

… … … … … … … … … … …

It was later that evening that Alan was ready to head to bed. He blinked owlishly at the television screen and tried to suppress a yawn. His dad noticed however, and he gently nudged his son.

"I think it's time for you to go to bed kiddo." Jeff hoped Alan wouldn't snap at him like he usually did when reminded he had a bed time like most children…teenagers included. "You've had a pretty trying day."

Alan simply nodded before he grabbed his crutches on the floor and proceeded to push himself up to make his way upstairs. "Night all."

"Night kiddo." Scott replied, he smiled at his kid brother. Once Alan had gone upstairs, Scott decided to take advantage of his brother's absence. "So, what do you all think of Alan's suggestion that he attend boot camp?"

"I think it's a horrible idea. He doesn't need additional punishment dad. Honestly, I think if he goes to a troubled youth camp or other programs he can learn how to better control his impulsiveness as well as his temper." Virgil said. "He doesn't need boot camp, he needs us and a stylized program that aims to teach him how to better handle certain situations."

"Virgil's right, I think if we found a program that will aid Alan – I think it'd be more beneficial in the long run." John said, agreeing with Virgil. "I don't like the idea of Alan going to boot camp anyway. I think it'd be a mistake."

"Boys, I think it's only fair that we let Alan decide his punishment. He never arrived for military school, so what has he learned?" Jeff asked, not wanting to let Alan off easy.

"Honestly? I think he learned his lesson after having fifty years scared off his life when his and Frank's plane went down. I don't know about you, but I would have been begging God to just let me live and I'd be a better person. On top of that, he was unfortunate enough to need a tetanus booster after having his foot locked in a bear trap not once but twice. Don't you think that's punishment enough? I mean he could have died." Gordon asked as he questioned whether his dad was being fair.

"Guys, you all may not feel like dad is being fair to Alan, but it _was_ my new car he wrecked. He didn't have to take my car, if he'd have asked I would have taken him for a spin." Scott said, tired of discussing Alan's lack of punishment.

"Scott, he asked you after dinner and you refused. Can you really blame the kid for having a need for speed? He is related to us after all and we're infamous in this household for needing to be fast at nearly everything we do." John said with an eye roll. "Besides, dad already replaced your car. Are you really going to insist Alan carry out his punishment when we very well could have had to bury him?"

"I'm not saying I wished he'd died. I just feel like Alan should learn his lesson." Scott insisted.

"Then make him spit shine your shoes. Or buff the floor, but don't send him away again." Virgil said as he tried defending his little brother from the wrath of his oldest brother and father. He couldn't consciously punish Alan further knowing how close he'd come to losing his kid brother not once or twice but three times. "I'll stand by him if you try to send him away again and you can send me away with him."

"Me too." John said, whilst crossing his arms over his chest. He was growing tired of this argument.

"Same here. I won't let you continue his punishment, we'll lose him if we do. So, if you absolutely must send him away, then you better include me." Gordon replied as his copper eyebrows narrowed into a rarely seen irritation.

"Let's take a vote." John said. "All those in favor of sending Alan away for further punishment?"

Jeff and Scott looked back at John, Virgil and Gordon as they raised their hands in vote.

"All those opposed?" John inquired to which Gordon, John and Virgil raised their hands. "We win, Alan doesn't go away. We'll figure something out, even if he has to be on house arrest. I'll gladly resume my babysitting duties if it'd make you happy. Alan can come stay with me while I finish my thesis work."

"Fine. Then it's decided. Alan can go with you while you finish your thesis work, but I want to be clear. He is under no circumstance permitted to go out lollygagging around, he's there to do whatever you ask of him. If he doesn't, then you have my full permission to carry out punishment however you see fit. He'll be your responsibility for the immediate future." Jeff said, deciding for them all exactly how Alan's punishment would go. "Do you understand?"

"Yes sir." John said as he stood to go to Alan's room. He figured he'd go on ahead and tell Alan the decision now, so it wouldn't keep him up at night.

… … … … … … … … … … …

It was a few days later that Alan left the family penthouse with John. They drove across the country until they'd reached John's townhouse in Washington. Alan was sore and tired, and his leg was itching up a storm within the confines of his cast. He needed to get out and hobble around, so he could stretch his legs. John hauled Alan's suitcase into the townhouse for Alan before he stepped back out onto the porch to smile at his brother.

"Hey, how're you doing?" John asked softly.

"I'm okay." Alan replied before hobbling onto the porch to join John. "So, what did you have in mind for my punishment?"

"What punishment?" John asked before he lead Alan into the townhouse and going into the kitchen. "I don't have any intention to further punish you. It's not like you can tell dad or Scott that though, they'd have you back up there in a matter of minutes."

"Why aren't you going to punish me?" Alan asked, surprised that John was being as lenient as he was.

"I think you've been punished enough, one car crash, one plane crash, being lost in the forest for days, lack of food or proper hydration, getting caught in the same bear trap twice, broken ankle, blood loss, infection, hypothermia and lack of adequate sleep seems like punishment enough if you ask me. I do however reserve the right to ground you if you step out of line." John said as he started digging through the cupboard. "Drag that stool over here and I'll teach you how to make a recipe my old college roommate and I came up with one night after he bought all the wrong ingredients for dinner."

"I won't die, will I?" Alan asked being cute but falling short of his mark when John gave him a look.

"Not funny." John said before he pulled the stuff out for dinner. "Here, I'd like you to dice these potatoes."

Alan made a face but didn't argue further. He knew that John had saved his bacon by volunteering himself to be the one to dole out any punishments that Alan earned for himself. After all that had happened lately though, Alan was determined to turn over a new leaf and not fail John after he'd stuck his neck out for him.

… … … … … … … … … … …

A little bit into Alan's semi-permanent stay with John in Washington, Alan was granted permission by John to begin doing activities that interested him under two conditions. They had to be legal and they had to be pre-approved by John. No ifs, ands or buts about it. When Alan couldn't immediately think of things to do, John suggested they both enroll in a cooking class since neither of them were much for cooking. With that came knowledge and with the knowledge came Alan's desire to get a job.

John was impressed, and he supported Alan when he broached the subject that getting a job would be beneficial in the long run because he'd be required to learn responsibility. Alan had entertained the idea of applying to be a busboy or server at one of the many diners in Washington, but John pointed out that Alan being a klutz and delivering people's food would be a very bad idea. Very bad idea indeed. However, John made sure Alan made it with time to spare for his interview after he'd applied to be a shelf stockman at their local grocery store.

They'd waited with bated breath for John's cell phone to ring at dinner, hoping they'd hear back whether Alan got the job or not. Alan barely touched the pot roast and mashed potatoes he'd prepared for he and John as he sat anxiously at the table. Alan kept shifting his feet around under the table, never mind the fact that he was still wearing his cast on his leg for another two weeks. John was barely able to contain himself either. It was a trying wait for them both and when John's phone did ring, it was more than a little disappointment when it occurred to them that it was their dad calling not the expected phone call.

"Should we answer it?" John asked softly as he looked at the crestfallen look on Alan's face.

"Yeah, dad will think something's wrong otherwise." Alan said with a deep sigh, feeling sad that the grocery store hadn't called yet. John nodded before he answered the phone.

"Hey dad, what's up?" John asked before he put the phone on speaker, so Alan could hear the call also."

"Nothing much, just calling to check up on you boys. Wanted to see how everything was going." Jeff answered, voice slightly loud as he was projected out into the room.

"Everything is going as expected. I'm busy with my thesis work and Alan is helping me to keep the apartment running in tip-top shape." John said smiling at his little brother happily. John patted Alan on the shoulder with a reassuring squeeze on the back of his neck. "We're doing great."

"Great to hear, is Alan there?" Jeff asked.

"He's here." John said speaking out for his brother when Alan slumped back against the backrest.

"Hi dad." Alan spoke feeling disheartened but trying not to let it be heard in his voice.

"Hello son. How're you doing?" Jeff asked with warmth in his voice as he spoke with his youngest who after the plane crash mishap had been lost in the forest with Frank.

"I'm okay, going crazy because my leg itches something fierce. But what do you expect with a casted leg?" Alan said hoping the grocery store called before he turned in for bed.

"Well, that cast will come off soon enough. These next two weeks will seem to go by fast." Jeff tried reassuring Alan.

"Yeah, but…it's hard to be patient when you can't go for a run or walk without the added weight on your leg." Alan remarked sadly. He was nervous and sad all at once when he believed the grocery store he applied for passed him by for a job.

"What's wrong Alan?" Jeff asked as the phone screen changed to show that there was an incoming call and John's cell phone started vibrating across the kitchen table. John and Alan froze when they saw the number and John spoke for Alan in answer.

"Hey, I've got another call coming through. Can I have you hang on for just one second dad?" John asked hurriedly.

"Yeah, but…" Jeff said before he was cut off when John hit the button to answer the call and put the current call on hold.

"Hello?" John asked as he answered the call. "Yes, yes sir he is here. One second, let me put him on." John paused for a moment before he pulled the phone from his ear and handed it to Alan with a whisper. "It's the grocery store."

"Thanks John." Alan whispered back before he took the call. He tried to contain his excitement as he answered the person speaking. "Hello? This is Alan."

John sat by eagerly waiting for Alan's phone call to end. He handed Alan a pen and notebook when he gestured that he needed to write something. "Uh-huh? Black slacks, burgundy shirt and black tennis shoes. Uh-huh? Yes, yes sir. Thank you! See you Saturday!"

Alan bit his lip before he hung up the call with the grocery store, not realizing that the call with his father connected once more. John asked impatiently what the result was of the call though he knew just by Alan's reaction.

"Well?!" John inquired, practically bouncing out of his seat.

"I got the job!" Alan cheered, laughing loudly when John jumped up and picked him up out of his seat to swing him around. "I got the job!"

"I knew you could!" John crowed excitedly before he put Alan back down in his seat. "I knew you could do it kiddo!"

Jeff had to hang up his call before he called back when after several long moments it became clear that neither John nor Alan remembered they'd been on the phone with him. There he'd learned from Alan and John that John had insisted his little brother get a job as part of his 'punishment'. There was no actual punishment though. John hadn't agreed with their dad or older brother's sentiments that Alan needed further punishment and had essentially removed Alan from the situation, so no further punishments could be demanded or invoked. Alan had been on his best behavior during the last few weeks with John and the older brother felt like if Alan desired a job then that'd be his prerogative. John was proud of his kid brother for taking the initiative.

John didn't expect his thesis work to be completed for another year and a half at least and Jeff, John and Alan had agreed that until John finished his thesis work Alan would be John's guest until he desired to return home. So, him getting a job would be a fantastic learning experience. John felt that with a little more time away, Alan would blossom in the right direction like he should have in the first place. John found that Alan was relaxed for the most part, only displaying pushback or exhibiting his stubborn nature when being made to do something he had no desire to do. But for the time being, John was happy that Alan was happy and that was all that mattered to him. Alan and Frank both had survived their ordeal and with it was a newfound maturity in Alan's behavior.

Alan was learning how to better control his temper as well as his impulsiveness. John couldn't be prouder of Alan as he was since Alan's ordeal. He'd always consider Alan to be braver than he'd ever be himself. While he wouldn't wish anyone to endure the same that his brother did, he was in a roundabout way glad that fate decided to perform one of those scared straight things that forced Alan into behaving as was expected of him. It may have only been a few weeks, but Alan had already proven to John how much this scare had made him better his life.

He was helping around the house more, had been more responsible with keeping his room clean as well as tending to the upkeep of John's apartment when John was incapable due to a lack of time. The cooking class that John suggested he and Alan take together had been a benefit and already John was eating better than he had been before Alan came to stay with him. John had taken to surviving on toast or a bagel if he lacked the time or the interest to cook. And while John would never carry ill will against his baby brother, he was glad Alan had been made to experience something so harrowing that he began to understand that if he continued down the path he was on he might well be as alone as he was in the woods with maybe one person that stuck by his side like Frank did. But there were no guarantees.

Nothing in this life was ever a guarantee, the day Alan was born proved that to John. He'd never forget the rushed exit of his mom and dad from the house. Neither of his parents announced quite why there was such a sense of panic, but John knew the same as Scott did as well as Virgil and Gordon. They all had a feeling that something was happening, but at the time they just hadn't known quite what. When Frank and his wife Wendy had loaded them all up in the car and took them in the hospital to meet their baby brother, they knew once more that something was different, and they hadn't learned what until they asked if mom was happy to have another boy or if she was sad.

Jeff had kept it together, but again, John knew just from looking at his dad that something had happened to his mom and she might not be coming home with them and the new baby. That was how John knew that life wasn't a guarantee, that and he knew his family had been spared losing the one person that had helped to keep their family together – despite the constant headaches. These were headaches that though he didn't necessarily love all the time, they were one of the things he wouldn't change for anything.

END


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